“Just as Balanchine defined neoclassical ballet, Forsythe has reinterpreted and distorted it--radically and brilliantly.”
—Time Out New York

Ballett Frankfurt
Choreographed by William Forsythe

VENUE
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House

DATE/ TIME
Sep 30, Oct 2—4 at 7:30pm
Oct 5 at 3pm

TICKETS
$20, 40, 55

BAM DIALOGUE
BAMdialogue with William Forsythe Oct 2 at 6pm

DESCRIPTION
Like all ballet dancers, the expert performers of Ballett Frankfurt execute an arabesque or a grand jeté with ease. Unlike most, they also do artistic justice to movement that departs radically from the classical canon.

This ability to deviate, often to the extreme, from ballet's harmonious lines without sacrificing any of its innate clarity comes from ex-pat American William Forsythe, an innovative choreographer who sees dance as an expression of ideas and states of being rather than sentiments. Forsythe's ultramodern approach extends to his inventive, perception-altering sets and costumes, often devised by the choreographer himself, and to his music selections. Chief among his collaborators is composer Thom Willems, whose frequent contributions emphasize the movement's edgy vitality.

In this appearance—which marks Forsythe's final season as Ballett Frankfurt's artistic director—the company presents four exceptional American premieres. Dancers climb atop, and hang beneath and between, dozens of continuously shifting tables in the architecturally taut One Flat Thing, reproduced. The Room As It Was pitches eight dancers, their breathing audible and rhythmic, through a succession of dramatic mutations. Mechanistic, clown-like gestures initiate tension-filled intertwining in the all-male (N.N.N.N.), which contrasts starkly with the disarmingly beautiful and spare Duo, a stellar example of a vision uncompromised by habit or convention.

PROGRAMS
The Room As It Was (2002)
US Premiere
Music by Thom Willems
Stage and lighting design by William Forsythe
Costume design by
Stephen Galloway

Duo (1996) US Premiere
Music by Thom Willems
Stage, lighting, and costume design by William Forsythe

(N.N.N.N.) (2002) US Premiere
Music by Thom Willems
Stage, lighting, and costume design by William Forsythe
One Flat Thing, reproduced (2000) US Premiere
Music by Thom Willems
Stage and lighting design by William Forsythe
Costume design by
Stephen Galloway

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