Modern touch

The Stuttgart Ballet returns to Bangkok with a showcase of contemporary dances

WOLFGANG GUNTHER

The Stuttgart Ballet will be bringing its "Stuttgart Ballet at its Best" extravaganza to the Thailand Cultural Centre on Feb 8 and 9. The showtime on both days is 8pm.

Dancers from one of Germany's premier ballet companies will perform their most acclaimed classical and contemporary works set to scores by Shostakovich, Rossini and Beethoven.

Ballet in this southwestern German city has a long history dating back to the 1600s. The modern Stuttgart Ballet evolved from the royal ballet that resided at the court of the Duke of Wurttemberg.

Under royal patronage it attracted prominent figures such as Jean-Georges Noverre, the 18th century ballet reformer known as the "Shakespeare of the ballet". Noverre was the creator of ballet d'action, a precursor of 19th century narrative ballets, and his birthday (April 29) is commemorated as International Dance Day.

The first major German ballet company, the Stuttgart Ballet's modern incarnation dates to 1961 - the year John Cranko, a former staff choreographer of Britain's Royal Ballet, joined the company. Under his direction the company rapidly rose to fame in the 1960s.

The South African-born ballet director gathered together a coterie of young dancers from around the world, including the Brazilian Marcia Haydee who was to become his prime muse and the company's artistic director from 1976 to 1996. World famous choreographers such as John Neumeier and Jiri Kylian also started their careers in Stuttgart under Cranko's support during this vibrant decade.

Colourful full-length story ballets like Eugene Onegin, The Taming of the Shrew, Carmen and Romeo and Juliet demonstrated Cranko's unrivalled ability in storytelling through dance.

This is the second time the company will have visited the Thai capital. During its 2004 tour, the Stuttgart Ballet introduced its classical side to audiences here; this year's programme will showcase its contemporary side. Artistic director Reid Anderson has selected four ballets that best represent its hallmark fusion of classical technique and innovative choreography.

Created by freelance Italian choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti in 1996, Kazimir's Colours was inspired by the paintings of Russian artist Kazimir Malevich and the music of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Set to the composer's Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Orchestra, this performance features 20 dancers in a humorous and energetic ballet that typifies Bigonzetti's trademark choreography. Driven on by a frenetic trumpet, the work culminates with a triumphant finale.

Mono Lisa, created by Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili four years ago, is danced to sounds based on the noises of a typewriter and centres on a pair of dancers in rust-coloured costumes twisting and turning in extraordinary convolutions and rapid pas de deux amid rows of steel frames. This industrial inspired piece is typical of Galili's Physical Dance Theatre, which connects the physicality of dance to social and political realities.

A celebratory work for 24 dancers, Seventh Symphony is choreographer Uwe Scholz's interpretation of Beethoven's celebrated opus. The ballet premiered in 1991. Described as an effervescent outpouring of pure dance, the dancers in this ballet embody Beethoven's exuberant music, which Wagner called "the apotheosis of dance."

Skew-Whiff is a work for four dancers - one female amd three males - that closely follows the rhythm of Rossini's overture to La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie). This ballet, choreographed by Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, reflects the experience of living and working under extreme time pressure as they had only a few weeks to choreograph the ballet while they toured Germany at the beginning of 2003. The seemingly mindless chaos of uncoordinated movements is ultimately about the ability to laugh about yourself, despite one's own helplessness in facing life's challenges.

"Stuttgart Ballet at Its Best" will be staged at the Thailand Cultural Centre on Feb 8 and 9, both shows will start at 8pm.

Tickets priced at 1,500, 2,500, 3,500 and 4,500 baht are available at Thai Ticket Master, call 02-262-3456 or check http://www.thaiticketmaster.com

Bangkok Post
Friday February 02, 2007