Shostakovich Trilogy

Every moment feels like a fragment of a masterpiece. Indeed, this was simply one of the company’s most satisfying nights in years, a grand, ambiguous, mysterious and thrilling entertainment. – The San Francisco Chronicle

Fascination, poetic, enigmatic. Alexei Ratmansky’s ‘Shostakovich Trilogy’

includes expressions of ebullience, heroism, affection, wit and inspiration. – The New York Times

Shostakovich Trilogy is a groundbreaking, intensely personal tribute from the renowned choreographer Alexei Ratmansky to Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the greatest composers of Russia. The performance will bring together the work of two revolutionary artists. 

In Shostakovich Trilogy, Alexei Ratmansky explores his complex relationship with his homeland. Ratmansky, who calls this his most personal work, gives an atmospheric sketch of the life and career of his favourite Russian composer, who suffered greatly under the oppression of the Soviet regime. Ratmansky was inspired by works by Dmitri Shostakovich from various periods. He overwhelms the audience with a deluge of solos, small ensembles and group sections, while giving unity to the trilogy through the repetition of certain phrases and the structure of the three sections, which are each danced by four or five soloists in front of a mixed corps de ballet. 

Shostakovich Trilogy, created in 2013 for American Ballet Theatre, has not been shown before in Europe in its entirety. It is a special honour for Dutch National Ballet that the much sought-after Ratmansky is allowing the company to dance the European premiere of his Shostakovich Trilogy.