Spring is here, and there’s another reason to rejoice: Sasha Waltz is finally able to bring her long-awaited collaboration with the Staatsballett Berlin on stage and to the public.
One of Germany’s leading choreographers, multi award-winning Waltz has been one of the key creative drivers of stage performance in Berlin for decades. Her many accomplishments include roles as director or co-director of various venues and artistic institutions, international renown for seminal works and accolades including the German Federal Cross of Merit.
The title her new work for the Staatsballett, SYM-PHONIE MMXX, bears several clues to the production – and its setbacks. A collaboration between Waltz and contemporary composer Georg Friedrich Haas, the piece combines dance, light and music and celebrates the harmonious interplay of various art forms. It was originally to have had its premiere in 2020, but – surprise! – it had to be postponed.
Haas, a longtime exponent of spectral music, has often written scores for opera, but this is his first official composition for dance. In this commissioned work, performed by the Staatskapelle Berlin, the music is designed to align closely together with the body language of the dancers.
If you can’t get enough of Waltz’s work, there’s more to come at the end of the month with another collaboration – this time between her company, Sasha Waltz & Guests, and performer, writer and interactive electronics artist Andrew Schneider. His piece remains, which premiered at Radialsystem in 2020, accompanies Waltz’s work In C, based on composer Terry Riley’s revolutionary minimalist composition.
SYM-PHONIE MMXX Mar 13, 18-19 Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Mitte
Remains and In C Mar 25-28, 31, Apr 1-3 Radialsystem, Friedrichshain
