ATLANTA — For the past few months, dancers in the Atlanta Ballet have been pimping out the pirouette, breaking down the battement and remixing the ronde de jambe.

On Thursday, the classically trained dancers will put on their toe shoes and debut "big," a new work that fuses the hip-hop stylings of Outkast's Big Boi and the graceful traditions of ballet.

"I just thought it would be ... cool ... to make something that's so dainty and elegant and sophisticated to some of this hard core, bumping type funk that we do," says Big Boi, who was born Antwan Patton.

The iconic duo Outkast — Big Boi and Andre 3000 — probably didn't have ballet in mind when they wrote tracks like "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik" or "Player's Ball," but the music is now part of the new collaboration between Big Boi and the Atlanta Ballet.

Part ballet and part concert, the production features dozens of dancers and consists of two 50-minute acts. Choreographed by Lauri Stallings, it's a play on the contrasts between hip-hop and ballet.

The dancers perform alongside six-time Grammy winner Big Boi and other artists from his record label, Purple Ribbon Entertainment. Though it wasn't his idea, Patton says the finished product, which was different and avant-garde even for him, is exactly what he wanted.

Sharing his excitement is John McFall, the 61-year-old who directs the Atlanta Ballet.

McFall had been looking for a hip-hop partner when he was introduced to the 33-year-old Patton at a fundraiser for the rapper's youth foundation about three years ago. McFall immediately pitched the idea and said Patton seemed interested — as long as he didn't have to wear a tutu or tights.

A year in the making, "big" features music from Outkast's catalog — including "Bombs Over Baghdad" from "Stankonia," "Morris Brown" from the "Idlewild" movie soundtrack and "Kryptonite" from "Big Boi Presents ... Got Purp? Vol. 2." The production also showcases such artists as Sleepy Brown and Janelle Monae, who are on Patton's label.

"big" tells the story of Little Big, a younger, more naive Patton, who goes through different encounters in various scenes to learn more about the world around him.

Artistically, the focus is on contrasts: beauty and ugliness, male and female, slow and fast, smooth and rough. The movement is more modern dance in movement and expression.

The world premiere runs through April 13 at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

"It's very physical, very visceral and it's what's happening today in the world," says Stallings, who scrolled through Patton's iPod with him to choose the music to accompany what she later choreographed. "We are all classical artists, but we need to move forward."

Patton stresses the transformative and unifying power of the production.

"That's what it's about — each one, teach one," he says. "I just want to get a chance to open people's minds to different things. Some of them like the ballet and our music. Why not bring those people together?"

Patton can certainly count Nathan Griswold and Kelsey Yip — members of the Atlanta Ballet — among his biggest fans. The two 20-somethings both grew up listening to Outkast and said they could hardly believe their company was taking on such a project.

"I was like, 'Yeah!' when I found out he was going to be a part of it," Griswold said, who was at first skeptical about how involved Patton was going to be in the actual production. "I get to be on stage with Big Boi. ... That's pretty cool."

Yip said "big" is unlike anything that she's ever done or seen.

"The ballet is so stereotypically rigid, and this changes it into something more suitable for hip hop," she said.

For Patton, seeing it all come together has been a rewarding experience.

"I thought it was unique," he says. "Ballet is a form of art and it's all about expression. To see her put that to the music, it's dope to me."