SOMMERAKADEMIE'26 DOUBLE BILL: Solène Wachter & Bryana Fritz | Billy Barry

Opening of the 2026 Summer Academy

The evening brings together two very different artistic perspectives:

PETER, a story ballet

by Billy Barry

a moving solo inspired by “Peter and the Wolf.” Personal memories and inner transitions weave together into a poetic narrative about courage, change, and the hope of following one’s own inner voice.

The story and music of “Peter and the Wolf” have long been a source of inspiration for me. By connecting these characters to people and events from my own life, this solo explores the inner tensions of a person undergoing change—a lesson in courage and in listening to a heart that once played menacing melodies but now sounds hopeful.

LOGBOOK

by Solène Wachter & Bryana Fritz

In the 14th century, emerging forms of polyphonic music were often viewed with suspicion: too many voices, too many melodic lines running simultaneously. Building on this idea of sonic excess, Logbook prioritizes polyphony over coherence, allowing voices, materials, and physicalities to coexist without dissolving or homogenizing them.

In Logbook, Solène Wachter and Bryana Fritz bring together elements that defy clear categorization: Purcell meets Britney Spears, Dalida brushes against Bach, Frank Ocean echoes through Terry Riley. Aesthetics collide, different temporal planes overlap, and drive the dance forward. Rather than striving for harmony or synthesis, they stage frictions between artistic worlds and create a polyphony that is at once musical, physical, and conceptual.

The performance unfolds as a condensed sequence of fragments, short scenes, abrupt transitions, and multi-layered textures—a dance concert born of collision and accumulation. In thirty intense minutes, *Logbook* opens up a space of visual and sonic richness in which incompatibility, dissonance, and juxtaposition become productive, alive, and surprisingly vital.

TEAM

PETER

Concept and Choreography Billy Barry

Dance and Performance: Billy Barry

Music: “Cloudbusting” by Kate Bush

“Peter and the Wolf” by Sergei Prokofiev, conducted by Eugene Ormandy and performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, narrated by David Bowie

“Ciao/Yaya” by Bagel

Costumes by Gianni Notarnicola

Lighting by Billy Barry

Premiere 2023, CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo

LOGBOOK

Runningtime: 35 minutes

Language: English or French

Choreography and Performance: Bryana Fritz, Solène Wachter

Lighting Design: Dgiorgia Chaix

Sound Engineering: Justine Pommereau

Vocal arrangements: Bryana Fritz, Solène Wachter

Sound composition: Bryana Fritz

Development and Production: Elissa Kollyris, Margaux Roy

Production and Tour Management: Claire Heyl

Production: QWERTY, Supergroup

ARTISTS

PETER

Billy Barry

was born in New York in 1989. He trained at The Ailey School from 2003 to 2007 and danced with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in 2006. Billy continued his training and graduated from The Juilliard School in 2011. During his time at Juilliard, he worked with Gallim Dance and Keigwin + Co. He was part of the original cast of Gallim’s “Wonderland” at the Joyce Theatre in 2010. In 2011, he joined the Batsheva Ensemble and became a member of the Batsheva Dance Company in 2012. In 2022, he was appointed Assistant Rehearsal Director of the Batsheva Dance Company, while continuing to dance until he left the company in 2024. In 2019, he received the Yair Shapira Award for outstanding achievements in dance.

As a choreographer, Billy has created several short works in both contemporary and commercial dance. In 2022, Billy and Gianni Notarnicola began working together, developing their own movement language and a shared style. Since then, the two have premiered two duets (B.O.A.T.S. – based on a true story and G.O.A.T.S. – going on a trip, sis), which have been presented at venues including Varda Hall, Suzanne Dellal Hall, Tmuna Theatre, Habait Theatre, Tanzfaktur Cologne, Rotterdam, Chez Bushwick in New York, Taipei, and throughout Italy.

In 2023, Billy choreographed solo works for himself and others (PETER – a story ballet, DansHer) as well as a trio (B THIGH STAR), which were performed at the CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo, the Inbal Theater, and the Juilliard School. Since leaving the Batsheva Dance Company, he has made guest appearances with Gallim Dance and Ate9. In 2025, he served as assistant choreographer to Imre and Marne Van Opstal for FKA Twigs’ Eusexua tour.

LOGBOOK

Solène Wachter

is a dancer and choreographer. She trained at the CNSMD in Paris and at P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios) in Brussels. In 2017, she began her career as a performer in *10,000 Gestures* by Boris Charmatz, with whom she has since collaborated on numerous projects. She has also worked with Némo Flouret on *900 Something Days Spent in the XXth Century*, with Maud Le Pladec on *Counting Stars with You*, with Ashley Chen on *Distances*, and most recently with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Némo Flouret on *Forêt*, a production for the Denon Wing of the Louvre Museum.

In her own work, she develops stage formats that incorporate both the audience and her own presence on stage. In doing so, she explores in particular the artificial mechanisms of entertainment, as in FOR YOU / NOT FOR YOU (2022). Following an initial writing residency at the Villa Medici in Rome in 2024, she is currently working on her new project, *Machine à Spectacle*, which will premiere in March 2026. She also collaborated with theater director Joris Lacoste on *Nexus de l’adoration*, for which she developed the choreography (world premiere at the 2025 Festival d’Avignon).

Bryana Fritz

isa choreographer and dancer based in Marseille. Her work lies at the intersection of poetry and performance and often emerges in dialogue with the user interface of the OS X operating system. Her artistic practice is inspired by an ongoing interest in medieval literature, fan fiction, media studies, and the history of illiteracy.

As a performer, she has collaborated with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Xavier Le Roy, Boris Charmatz, and Dimitri Chamblas, among others. Since 2016, she has been collaborating with Henry Andersen under the name Slow Reading Club to develop projects that function as a semi-fictional reading circle and create choreographed situations for reading as a performative practice.