Forsythe / Hauert
Undertainment
William ForsythePlaying with Sergei, Martha and the Others
Thomas HauertWe present our double bill "Forsythe / Hauert" in Barcelona!
The renowned choreographer William Forsythe creates a new piece for the ensemble of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. In the second part of this double bill, Thomas Hauert immerses himself in Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, bringing the dancers into a playful dialogue with this virtuosic and intricate musical masterpiece.
Mercat de les FlorsBarcelona (Guest performance)
- Thu13.11.202520:00
- Fri14.11.202520:00
- Sat15.11.202520:00
Press reviews
"Crystal-clear precision with Forsythe, ravishing fluidity with Hauert. This evening is a choreographic and dramaturgical stroke of luck." – Rico Stehfest, Tanznetz.de
"An evening about silence and sounds, about tensing and letting go, letting fly. Moulding and unmoulding. The premiere was acclaimed. Its greatness, however, lies in the upward air to which both works refer, in the knowledge that super perfection will never be achieved, the total success, the captivating show, the one masterpiece, the ideal, chiselled in marble. Strive: yes! Achieve: - -" - Melanie Suchy, Die Deutsche Bühne
"It was a really successful evening. I left there inspired and somehow liberated in a way that is very rare. You could tell in the audience that there was a great connection and affection for what was happening on stage. The audience really got into it and celebrated the chorographers and the dancers." - Esther Boldt, hr2 early review
Undertainment
- Choreography
- William Forsythe
- Dance
- Dancers of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company
- Choreographic assistance
- Cyril Baldy
- Rehearsal manager
- Pauline Huguet
- Light
- Tanja Rühl
- Costumes
- Dorothee Merg
This is a full circle moment. William Forsythe is regarded as one of the most important choreographers of the late 20th century. His innovative approach to the tradition of ballet has opened up directions for dance that would otherwise be difficult to imagine. From 1984 to 2004, Forsythe directed the Ballett Frankfurt and from 2005 to 2015 The Forsythe Company, which was later renamed Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company.
Forsythe is now returning to the place of this legacy of many years and is developing a new work with the company for the first time. Starting from a toolbox of improvisational construction, he creates a structural order which, instead of signifying something else, offers an aesthetic pleasure in itself. Like in a kaleidoscope, patterns emerge that are always unpredictable and surprising yet within a clear framework. The dancers explore the movement system that they themselves form to its limits. The audience is invited to follow this exploration and experience the work as a living, breathing system.
William Forsythe
William Forsythe has been active in the field of choreography for over 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. Forsythe danced with the Joffrey Ballet and later the Stuttgart Ballet, where he was appointed Resident Choreographer in 1976. In 1984, he began a 20-year tenure as director of the Ballet Frankfurt after which he founded and directed The Forsythe Company until 2015. Forsythe's deep interest in the fundamental principles of organisation of choreography has led him to produce a wide range of projects including installations, films, and web-based knowledge creation.
While his work for the stage resides in the repertoire of ensembles worldwide, his installations are presented internationally in exhibitions and museums. Forsythe has been the recipient of numerous awards, which include the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale, Der FAUST German Theatre Award and the Kyoto Price, all for lifetime achievement.
Press reviews
"The play also undermines the omnipresent logic of spectacle, exaggeration and scandalisation, i.e. the fact that our attention has long since become a currency that many companies are vying for." – Esther Boldt, hr2 early review
"The piece is very calm and focussed, very finely crafted and precise, as we know it from Forsythe." – Esther Boldt, hr2 early review
"Elbows and forearms arrange themselves in geometric shapes, hips push out from underneath the torso as if detached, where fractures appear, others weld them together with their own extremities. Lines emerge as if drawn straight as a die, geometrically measured. Much of it seems formal, circular, scientifically thought out. [...] But it is not cool or sterile, simply impressively precise. Forsythe dispenses with music, letting the focus rest on the essential, the dance in its most concentrated form." – Frankfurter Neue Presse, Katja Sturm
"The sounds of the dancers' bodies as music and signals of a choreography based on improvisation, both fill the space, or rather: make you feel a long-lost expanse. Typical sequences, the long diagonally guided arms, the body spirals and off-axis arabesques appear like good old acquaintances from the world of Forsythe. You can see the mastery of savouring a movement in its full length. And thus opening up space for reflection for both the ensemble and the audience." – FAZ, Eva Maria Magel, 06.06.2025
Playing with Sergei, Martha and the Others
- Choreography
- Thomas Hauert
- Dance
- Dancers of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company
- Choreographic assistance
- Pauline Huguet
- Dramaturgy
- Philipp Scholtysik
- Costumes
- Thomas Hauert
- Dorothee Merg
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto is considered a particular challenge for pianists. Beyond the technical virtuosity, which certainly contributes to its appeal, 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 ensemble immerses itself in the music and enters into a playful dialogue with it. The dancers interpret the music from their subjective perception with their bodies and engage with the rhythm, dynamics and emotional contrasts. At the same time, they interact with each other in a complex interplay.
Hauert brings with him principles and rules for improvisation that have been developed working with his own company ZOO, over more than 25 years, which rely less on control and more on the collective intelligence of everyone involved. This approach is juxtaposed with Rachmaninoff in an interesting way. While the latter is an exemplary figure of creation that sort of is above it all, and authoritatively dictates to the musicians, including the soloist, Hauert's practice is distinguished from such a superelevated concept of genius in favour of a radically collaborative creative process. The dance does not perceive the music as a command, but uses it as a stimulus, as a playground, as a counterpart in a constantly renewing and surprising dialogue.
Thomas Hauert
Thomas Hauert founded his company ZOO in Brussels in 1998. ‘Cows in Space’ was his first piece, which was immediately honoured at the Rencontres de Seine-Saint-Denis/Bagnolet. Since then, the company has developed more than 21 pieces. In addition to his work for ZOO, Hauert has been a guest choreographer for the Zurich Ballet, Toronto Dance Theatre, Candoco Dance Company, Ballet Junior de Genève and the Ballet de Lorraine, among others.
Inspired by his choreographic work, Hauert developed an internationally recognised teaching method based on his movement research with ZOO. 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.
Interview
Press reviews
"You experience dance, I would say, as an artistic swarm intelligence. Twelve people become the incarnation of music. A celebration of the interpretation and conquest of space through dance. One's heart simply overflows with the joie de vivre presented here." – Wolfgang Schilling, MDR Klassik
"This piece is one of the best I've seen in a very long time. I am totally thrilled, the dancers fly through the room to this music. They fly, flow, run, jump, gyrate as a collective, but not as a collective that condemns the individual to always remain part of the whole, but as a free unit." – Elisabeth Nehring, FAZIT, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
"When this time the twelve dancers swarm in running, to the side, in front, in the round, and emancipate the backwards running, all paying attention to all and communitising the spin, then a touching beauty emerges." – Melanie Suchy, Die Deutsche Bühne
"The ten dancers absorb the flow of the sounds into their movements right from the start, letting themselves drift like happy children enjoying their time together in a meadow, jumping and leaping, twisting and turning. [...] The momentum is never lost, even in the slower passages, as if the community is carrying it forward. It makes for a rousing spectacle. [...] With the last note, the bodies collapse in a bow. The audience is enraptured, cheering the performance." – Frankfurter Neue Presse, Katja Sturm, 07.06.2025
"It is a very playful chorography, very playful, pointed, intoxicating. And the whole ensemble surrenders to this frenzy of music. It's a really big dance festival." – Esther Boldt, hr2 early review
"In his piece, the improvisationally gifted dancers virtually revel in their togetherness, their enjoyment of their voltes, hooks and galloping around is vividly conveyed. The kinaesthetic empathy of their quasi-natural movements is easy." – Wiebke Hüster, FAZ