© Photo: Gert Weigelt

Friday – May 20 – 2PM – Boedecker Theater, Boulder

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Germany’s Ballett am Rhein presents an epic response to Gustav Mahler’s 7th Symphony by Martin Schläpfer. In this full-length ballet, recorded by the German filmmaker Ralph Goertz, the anguish and poignant beauty of Mahler’s Symphony seem to be written into the bodies of the dancers. Music and movement merge into a whirlpool of frenetic activity and then give way to serenity, childish naivety and virtuosity en pointe. The choreography finds its stance and fiction in the architecture of the Symphony, while a restless anxiety underscores the dancers grace and virtuosity.

Swiss artist Martin Schläpfer is currently one of the most famous European choreographers. His Ballett am Rhein was voted “Best Company of the Year” in 2013, 2014 and 2015 by magazine “tanz”. World premiere: 26 October 2013, Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg, Opera House Düsseldorf

Read the Notes from the October, 2013 Program Book Here
Read Martin Schläpfer’s comments on Gustav Mahler Here
Read Reviews of the Düsseldorf performance Here

“Like the music, the dance is a tour de force of energy and invention that does not easily attach to a programme or a plot, though there is perhaps a general movement from fear to confidence, and a sense at the end of coming out of the woods into the light. The way to watch is to let it wash over you, admiring the febrile intelligence of Schläpfer’s neoclassical, tanztheater-inflected choreography, the strength and attack of his dancers, and the warm, thoughtful playing … a deeply serious, deeply joyful fusion of dance and music.”– The Arts Desk (reviewing the RSNO under Wen-Pin Chien performance)

Music: Symphony No 7 in e by Gustav Mahler
Choreography: Martin Schläpfer
Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg
Düsseldorfer Symphoniker conducted by Axel Kober
Set and costume design: Florian Etti
Lighting design: Volker Weinhart
Ballet masters: Callum Hastie and Kerstin Feig
Video: Ralph Goertz, IKS

Dancers Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg

(Click here for detailed information on the dancers)

Sachika Abe, Ann-Kathrin Adam, Marlúcia do Amaral, Camille Andriot, Doris Becker, Wun Sze Chan, Sabrina Delafield, Mariana Dias, Feline van Dijken, Carolina Francisco Sorg, Nathalie Guth, Alexandra Inculet, Yuko Kato, So-Yeon Kim, Anne Marchand, Nicole Morel, Louisa Rachedi, Claudine Schoch, Virginia Segarra Vidal, Elisabeta Stanculescu, Julie Thirault, Anna Tsybina, Irene Vaqueiro

Rashaen Arts, Christian Bloßfeld, Andriy Boyetskyy, Paul Calderone, Jackson Carroll, Martin Chaix, Michael Foster, Filipe Frederico, Philip Handschin, Richard Jones, Sonny Locsin, Alexander McKinnon, Marcos Menha, Bruno Narnhammer, Bogdan Nicula, Chidozie Nzerem, Alban Pinet, Friedrich Pohl, Boris Randzio, Alexandre Simões

Video:

© Ralph Goertz, IKS – Institut für Kunstdokumentation und Szenografie
Filmed at the final dress rehearsal on 24 October 2013, Opera House Düsseldorf

Performance rights:
© Martin Schläpfer for the choreography
© Gustav Mahler: Symphony No 7 – New Critical Edition by The International Gustav Mahler society, edited by Reinhold Kubik. Boosey & Hawkes · Bote & Bock, Berlin (Germany) 2006/07.