DRESDEN FRANKFURT DANCE COMPANY. FORSYTHE/HAUERT

THE MERCAT DE LES FLORS AND FLAIX DE TARDOR present a double bill from the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company (DFDC) with two pieces by choreographers William Forsythe and Thomas Hauert. Under the artistic direction of Ioannis Mandafounis, the DFDC emerged from Ballett Frankfurt in 2004 as the Forsythe Company, and in 2015 changed its name to the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. The group combines contemporary ideas with dance tradition through experimentation, revision and refinement of pre-established choreographic concepts. A central pillar of the ensemble’s work is the methodology developed by Mandafounis, which enables the dancers to create choreography live on stage.

Undertainment
Choreography by William Forsythe

After many years directing the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, Forsythe is invited to create a piece in which the prestigious choreographer starts from an improvised construction that seeks nothing more than aesthetic pleasure for its own sake, with always surprising patterns in which the dancers explore this movement system to its limits. William Forsythe, one of the essential choreographers of the 20th century, has been active for more than 50 years. His work is acknowledged for reorienting the practice of ballet from its identification with classical repertoire to a dynamic 21st-century art form. His choreographies are in ensembles’ repertoires all over the world, and his installations are presented internationally in exhibitions and museums. Forsythe has received numerous awards, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, the German theatre prize Der Faust, and the Kyoto Prize, all for his career.

Choreography William Forsythe / Dance Dancers of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company / Choreographic assistant Cyril Baldy / Rehearsal Director Pauline Huguet / Light Tanja Rühl / Costumes Dorothee Merg
In Coproduction with DE SINGEL – International Arts Centre and the Romaeuropa Festival. With support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels.

Playing with Sergei, Martha and the others
Choreography by Thomas Hauert

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto is considered a particular challenge for pianists. Beyond technical virtuosity, the music is characterised by an extraordinary emotional complexity. In his creation for the DFDC, Thomas Hauert brings the concerto to the stage in the 1982 recording with Martha Argerich. The dancers interpret the music from their subjective perception and engage with the rhythm, dynamics and emotional contrasts. Hauert carries rules for improvisation that he has developed with his own company ZOO, over more than 25 years, that rely less on control and more on the collective intelligence of all those involved. Hauert’s choreographic work led him to create an internationally recognised teaching method based on research into movement. Since 2013, he has been the artistic director of the bachelor’s programme in Contemporary Dance at La Manufacture, the Lausanne School of Performing Arts.

Choreography Thomas Hauert / Dance Dancers of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company / Choreographic assistant Pauline Huguet / ramaturgy Philipp Scholtysik / Costume Thomas Hauert, Dorothee Merg
Coproduction of the two pieces DE SINGEL – International Arts Centre i Romaeuropa Festival / Supported by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpel

The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company is supported by the state capital Dresden and the Free State of Saxony as well as the city of Frankfurt am Main and the state of Hesse. Company-in-Residence at HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts in Dresden and at Bockenheimer Depot in Frankfurt am Main.

 On hour before: November 15

This show is part of