[1] Peck said he first heard music from Sufjan Stevens's album, Enjoy Your Rabbit in 2009, when a string quartet performed an arrangement on WNYC, and found it "really innovative and danceable.
[6] Stevens claimed that he was initially "flabbergasted" by the request to provide the music as he was known for folk songs, but Enjoy Your Rabbit is an electronic score which he made as "sort of a hobby,"[2] inspired by the animals of the Chinese zodiac, a concept he would later "cringe a little,"[6] and said that most of his fans "dislike" this album.
"[2] Once Stevens allowed his album to be used for the ballet, it had to be orchestrated by Michael P. Atkinson, who was also the conductor at the premiere, and according to Peck, a transition led to them spending two hours "to figure out just how to count it for the dancers.
[2] Year of the Rabbit is an expansion Peck made for the New York Choreographic Institute, of Tales of a Chinese Zodiac.
[12] Stagers of the ballet include original cast members Craig Hall and Janie Taylor.
"[8] Peck was nominated for the Prix Benois de la Danse for choreographing Year of the Rabbit.