Through his compositions, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky influenced and shaped classical ballet like few other composers. The myth of his music remains unbroken to this day. Cayetano Soto draws an engaging portrait of a man who could not live his life the way he wanted to. In “Tchaikovsky”, the view behind the glorious moments of a biography is revealed – in brokenness, courage and genius.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is considered a national cultural icon of Russia. With his music for “Swan Lake”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Nutcracker”, he shaped classical ballet like no other. The Spanish choreographer Cayetano Soto has staged a biopic with the Leipzig Ballet in which he approaches the composer’s personality associatively from different perspectives. With his choreography, Soto creates a disturbing view of a person who could hardly stand the conflict between his role in the “normal” world and the dark side of his personality. Tchaikovsky had to come to terms with his own destructive potential in order to be able to be himself. This social pressure dominated his entire life until his tragic death. A public discussion about his private life has been taboo in his home country for almost a hundred years.
In addition to music, the choreographic adaptation is based on letters and other archival documents from the Tchaikovsky State Museum in Klin, which were only published in 2009. “Tchaikovsky” is a piece of rousing dance art that polarizes in its uncompromisingness. Both subtle and gripping, it requires technical skill, imagination and dedication from the dancers. Characteristic are the many nuanced details and grotesque adaptations of traditional movements, expressive hands and fingers as well as complex, acrobatic duets.
Swan Lakes by Cayetano Soto