DUATO / SKEELS / EYAL

Sometimes you want to escape the world - the three choreographies in this new Triple Bill, which opens the Ballettfestwoche 2024, revolve around various forms of escapism. Following Bedroom Folk by Sharon Eyal, which was first shown at the Bayerisches Staatsballett as part of Paradigma in 2020, Autodance is the second work by the Israeli-born choreographer and her artistic partner Gai Behar. With the Greek prefix "auto", Eyal refers to a dance that draws its energy from itself. Ori Lichtik has created an electronic, multi-layered beat, which brings to mind excessive party nights and supernatural harmonies of the spheres.

For Nacho Duato, the trigger for White Darkness was the death of one of his sisters. The work was created for the Compañía Nacional de Danza in Madrid and deals with the fatal pull of intoxicants. It is accompanied by works for string quartet and string orchestra by Karl Jenkins.

The world premiere of Chasm was created by North American Andrew Skeels, who is working with the Bayerisches Staatsballett for the first time. His choreographic language is characterised by a cinematic aesthetic that is characterised by speed and a desire to take risks. The basis for this work, which can be seen in the centre section of the ballet evening, is a science fiction scenario: thousands of years in the future, a new human species has developed in an evolutionary process. It lives in a cave system and has developed its own form of communication via a mycelium-like network. Due to climatic changes, the community has to radically change its way of life and break out of the cave. They develop a ritual with which these people actually succeed in causing a brake ("chasm"). In the end, they have to realise that their hopes were in vain. The science fiction scenario is accompanied by the cinematic sounds of composer Antoine Seychal.