Forsythe

For the first time, the Dutch National Ballet will present a programme with three masterpieces from William Forsythe: The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Pas/Parts 2018 and the Dutch premiere of the internationally praised Blake Works l.

If there is one choreographer who has influenced and steered the development of contemporary dance, it has to be William Forsythe, who completely overturned the traditional logic and dynamic of ballet. Forsythe is an ode to this international master choreographer.

Blake Works l

Blake Works l was the first work in which Forsythe – after seventeen years of choreographic experimentation – returned to classical ballet technique. The audience went wild at its 2016 world premiere in Paris. In technically challenging, but particularly swinging solos, duets and group formations, the choreography reflects the seven poetic songs of James Blake’s album The Colour in Anything.

Pas/Parts

Before pursuing more experimental work, Forsythe created a masterpiece for Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris in 1999: Pas/Parts. The Dutch National Ballet will now perform an adapted version from 2018 that perfectly exemplifies the way Forsythe reshaped, cut up and rearranged classical ballet steps into contemporary abstract art. The ingenious solos, duets, trios and group parts follow each other in quick succession, like an avalanche.

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude

As its title already suggests, the third work, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, also extols the precision and speed of classical ballet, while at the same time parodying it. To Schubert’s Symphony no. 9, the dancers launch into a whirlwind of pirouettes and difficult allegro work, only they do it at such speed that the original steps are hardly visible.