WAVES AND CIRCLES

In the organizer's words:

Whether we think of the seashore, the radio or the soccer stadium when we hear the word "wave" - the idea of energy is always involved. An energy that seeks its way and creates the impression of liveliness. Waves often spread out in a circle, going in all directions from a center. In the three-part ballet evening Waves and Circles, waves and circles play a role in different ways - they are sung about, are visible or can be felt.

William Forsythe's ballet Blake Works I, created in 2016, is based on seven songs by British singer James Blake. While the lyrics of the songs are introverted and the sounds fragile and playful, Forsythe's choreography, trained in French dance technique, creates a sophisticated counterpoint with speed, brilliance and virtuosity.

Canadian choreographer Emma Portner is creating for the first time for a German company. Musically, her creation Megahertz is based on a 22-minute song by British musician Paddy McAloon. The content is based on the song's account of a woman's life, in which the boundary between reality and fiction is blurred. The female solo part in Portner's new piece acts as a choreographic counterpart to the narrator, with six other figures appearing alongside her - strangers, strange figures, ghosts even, who wander through the space spanned by the story.

Maurice Ravel's orchestral piece Boléro (1928) may be known today mainly from the concert hall, but it originally accompanied a ballet. Maurice Béjart presented a choreography in 1961 that became a benchmark. Béjart's version takes up the structure of Ravel's music: The person dancing in the middle on a table embodies the melody, the others forming the circle around the center embody the rhythm. Béjart said: "I wanted to bring out the melody, which constantly pushes itself forward and tirelessly rolls in like a wave".