Anyone who thinks of Piotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet music for The Nutcracker will immediately hear the magical sound of the celesta that accompanies the famous dance of the sugar plum fairy, and will think of a splendidly decorated Christmas room, dancing…
Will the aggression that human beings show towards each other and towards their environment lead to their downfall? In Nicht Schlafen, a reflection on humans’ primal urge for violence, leading choreographer Alain Platel asks what drives us to fight. A…
Brown’s last work, I’m going to toss my arms – if you catch them they’re yours (2011), is a collaboration with visual artist Burt Barr, whose striking set is dominated by industrial fans. The original music is by Alvin Curran.…
The 1913 premiere of The Rite of Spring almost caused a riot. Unconventional choreography and shockingly dissonant music provoked anger from the Parisian audience and in Stravinsky’s letter home he wrote that ‘things got as far as fighting’. Saintus’ reworking…
Moving North – 10 Short Dance Films is a unique Nordic project which aims to combine the talents of Nordic choreographers and film makers from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. They have explored movement and space through the camera’s…
(Re)discover Ibsen’s masterpiece as told by the Norwegian National Ballet. Are we ever honest enough to be unaffected by lies? This is the question asked by Henrik Ibsen’s drama Ghosts (Gengangere). Oswald Alving returns from a bohemian existence in Paris…
August Strindberg is the focus of Dramaten 2012, one hundred years after his death. First up is the Ghost Sonata directed by Mats Ek. This initially misunderstood dream play is today considered one of Strindberg’s Central Works, which with its…
The fateful love story of the world’s most popular opera with Bizet’s tantalising tunes takes to the ballet stage. Liam Scarlett‘s choreography is set in a cigarette factory in 1930s Spain, just before the start of the civil war. It’s…
A meeting of painting and dance, Signes is the culmination of a triple creative process initiated by the painter Olivier Debré and continued by choreographer Carolyn Carlson and composer René Aubry. In search of the unspeakable emotions of the sensitive…
Pina Bausch revolutionised modern dance with her choreography. But what remains of her legacy? A visually intense and emotional journey into the world of modern dance and beyond. Dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch was one of the most important contributors…
