NDT 2 presents The beauty of it all, striking the ultimate balance between honoring NDT’s legacy and its rich repertoire, while creating space for new artistic voices that provide the company with surprising perspectives. On tour from March 14 until May 2.
The new NDT 1 performance Do Not Run Fly premieres on Thursday May 16. To be seen until June 8.
Dear friends,
We are delighted to bring you a full-evening program of works by William Forsythe, whose innovative voice continues to influence the international dance world with its dynamic approach. Throughout his career, Forsythe’s keen interest in the intricacies of choreographic organization has informed the breadth of his extraordinary canon of work. This program offers a diverse collection of Forsythe’s creations, exemplifying his unique contribution to dance. After only a short run during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I felt it important to re-stage this program to share it with a broader audience.
It has been a gift and privilege for us to rediscover these works; they have invited us to new ways of thinking and seeded fertile creative ground. Witnessing the development of our artists throughout the process has been an extraordinary experience.
This evening would not be possible without the generous contributions of many individuals. I would like to extend a very special thanks to Bill for his care and remarkable inspiration, to Thom Willems and all our collaborators for their passion and dedication, and to our NDT dancers and team for their commitment and curiosity.
Thank you for joining us tonight. It is a pleasure to have you with us!
Emily Molnar
Artistic Director
CHOREOGRAPHY, STAGE, LIGHT AND COSTUME DESIGNS
William Forsythe
STAGED BY
Ander Zabala, Ayman Harper,
Cyril Baldy, Amancio Gonzalez
NDT REHEARSAL DIRECTOR
Emily Molnar, Lucas Crandall
MUSIC
Thom Willems
WORLD PREMIERE
November 21, 2002, Ballett Frankfurt, Operahouse Frankfurt, Germany
DURATION
20 minutes
CAST A
Jon Bond, Conner Bormann, Chuck Jones, Charlie Skuy
CAST B
Surimu Fukushi, Barry Gans, Aram Hasler, Theophilus Veselý
N.N.N.N. appears as a mind in four parts: four dancers in a state of constant, filagree connection. Underscored by the subtle, murmured flashes of Thom Willems’ music, the dancers enter into a complex, intense music making of their own. Their arms, heads, bodies and legs become singular voices, each tuned and in counterpoint to the others. The dancers’ complex breath score allows them to coalesce into a linked entity of flinging arms, folding joints and a sharp, high sense of time.
N.N.N.N. is the work upon which 12 N was based, but never performed due to pandemic conditions. It is now to be seen in its original form with all of its musical structures intact.
CHOREOGRAPHY, STAGE, AND LIGHT DESIGNS
William Forsythe
STAGED BY
Stefanie Arndt, Thomas McManus
NDT REHEARSAL DIRECTOR
Tamako Akiyama, Francesca Caroti
MUSIC
Thom Willems
COSTUME DESIGN
Stephen Galloway
TEXT
Dana Caspersen, William Forsythe
WORLD PREMIERE
May 27, 1995, Ballet Frankfurt, Operahouse Frankfurt, Germany
DURATION
25 minutes
Nicole Ishimaru, Luca Tessarini
Nicole Ward, Scott Fowler
Thalia Crymble, Alexander Andison
Of Any If And (1995) is an intimate and virtuoso duet framed by instances of language which eventually evaporate around them: a cloud of small, text-inscribed panels that intermittently descend towards the stage. The panels’ texts are fragments from Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things, written in reverse, in which he described the decomposition of a body. This is one of a series of works Forsythe composed after the death of his wife in 1994. The duet embodies a seriousness of purpose, a forensic intensity in the performers’ bid to engage with classical technique while deconstructing its usual framework.
CHOREOGRAPHY, STAGE, AND LIGHT DESIGNS
William Forsythe
STAGED BY
Ayman Harper, Ander Zabala, Thierry Guiderdoni,
Cyril Baldy, Amancio Gonzalez
NDT REHEARSAL DIRECTOR
Francesca Caroti, Lucas Crandall
MUSIC
Thom Willems. Performed live by Niels Duursma and Niels Mudde
COSTUME DESIGN
Stephen Galloway
WORLD PREMIERE
February 2, 2000, Ballet Frankfurt, Bockenheimer Depot, Frankfurt, Germany
DURATION
15 minutes
CAST A
Aram Hasler, Surimu Fukushi, Chuck Jones, Charlie Skuy, Genevieve O’Keeffe, Alexander Andison, Madoka Kariya, Conner Bormann, Jon Bond, Anna Bekirova, Sophie Whittome, Thalia Crymble, Scott Fowler, Pamela Campos
CAST B
Barry Gans, Kele Roberson, Emmitt Cawley, Paxton Ricketts, Aram Hasler, Luca Tessarini, Fay van Baar, Zenon Zubyk, Theophilus Veselý, Nicole Ward, Sophie Whittome, Yukino Takaura, Matthew Foley, Nicole Ishimaru
For all the hazardous torrent of dancers moving relentlessly around metal tables, One Flat Thing, reproduced (2000) is actually a purposeful chapter in Forsythe’s ongoing research into the distension of contrapuntal structure. The work is set up as a linked “machinery” that is created through the interaction of three systems of organization: numerous individual movement themes, a dense system of distributed cueing, and complex alignments of forms and/or movement flow. Although the dancer’s field of action is seriously delimited, the unforgiving maze of tables also offers the unusual possibility of composing interrelated action on three levels.
William Forsythe (1949) has been active in the field of choreography for over 50 years. His three decades of work with his ensembles in Frankfurt exerted significant influence upon generations of artists in a wide array of creative practices.
With an initial focus on the organizational underpinnings of academic ballet Forsythe has, since 1991, extended his choreographic discourse into the field of visual arts. While his work for the stage resides in the repertories of ensembles worldwide, his installations are presented internationally in museums and exhibitions. Forsythe has been the recipient of numerous awards which include the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale and Der Faust, both for lifetime achievement.
Thom Willems’ music is predominately created for ballet. He works since 1985 with the choreographer William Forsythe. Until 2004 with Ballett Frankfurt and from 2005 on with The Forsythe Company. Together they have created over 70 works.
His music in connection with William Forsythe’s work, is featured in the repertoire of virtually every major ballet company in the world including The Mariinsky Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Paris Opera Ballet, Teatro alla Scala Milano, Royal Ballet Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, Semper Oper Dresden, Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon and Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) among many others. In total 71 companies in 29 countries.
View more photos in the gallery
