Holland Festival: Forsythe Festival - Het Nationale Ballet

Blake Works l

Blake Works l was the first work in which Forsythe returned to classical ballet technique after seventeen years of choreographic experimentation. At the world premiere in Paris in 2016, the audience went wild. In technically very challenging, but above all swinging solos, duets and group formations, the choreography reflects seven poetic songs from James Blake's album The Color in Anything .

Pas/Parts

Even before embarking on the experiment, Forsythe created another masterpiece for the Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris in 1999: Pas/Parts . The Dutch National Ballet is now presenting an adapted version from 2018. The piece shows in optima forma how dance innovator Forsythe has distorted, cut up and regrouped the classical ballet steps into contemporary abstract art. As in a dizzying avalanche, ingenious solos, duets, trios and group parts follow each other in rapid succession.

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude

The third work, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude , is also, as the title suggests, a glorification of the precision and speed of classical ballet, but at the same time a parody of it. In Schubert's Ninth Symphony, the dancers show a whirlwind of pirouettes and clever allegro work, but they do so with such speed that the original steps are barely visible.

If one choreographer has influenced and guided the development of contemporary dance, it is William Forsythe. The traditional logic and dynamics of ballet have been turned upside down by him. Forsythe Festival is an ode to this international master choreographer.