Lyon Opera Ballet

Lyon Opera Ballet description

The work of three women, all seminal figures in contemporary dance, converge on a single piece of music in this unique program that has wowed critics and audiences worldwide.

American Lucinda Childs and Belgian Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker established their reputations in the 1970’s with their uncanny ability to visually match the music of minimalists like Glass and Reich. Maguy Marin may now be the Grande Dame of French dance but the fierce radicalism of her early 80’s work remains undimmed. She is the only choreographer ever to have directly collaborated with Beckett.

Over the years each has taken on the same fearsome musical challenge: The Great Fugue for strings- that enigmatic and ever-confronting masterwork by Beethoven, which Glenn Gould dubbed “the most astonishing piece in musical literature”. Here, their interpretations are performed back to back by the Lyon Opera Ballet with stunning virtuosity.

The three works – each to a different recording - couldn’t be more varied. Childs: elegant and mathematically precise, De Keersmaeker: wild and free-spirited (small wonder Beyonce gave in to the temptation to rip her off!), Marin: an earthy, reckless blood red rage against death.

Miraculously, each not only makes the bafflingly complex counterpoint crystal clear but also brings us closer to its mysterious and profound human heart. What would elude you in a concert becomes attainable through dance.

As we celebrate 250 years since Beethoven’s birth, this thrilling riposte to River Phoenix’s assertion that “You can’t dance to Beethoven” is unmissable.

The three pieces shared nothing but their music, yet seen back to back it amounted to a dazzling display of dance at its most inventive and transporting… an unforgettable evening.

The Times

Event additional information

Credits

Expand or collapse Credits

Lyon Opera Ballet Director Yorgos Loukos


Grande fugue - Piece for 12 dancers

Choreography Lucinda Childs

Assistant Caitlin Scranton

Music Beethoven, Die Grosse Fuge, Op. 133

Recording Lyon Opera Orchestra – Bernhard Kontarsky, Conductor (2016)

Stage design, lighting and costumes Dominique Drillot

Created by the Lyon Opera Ballet on November 17, 2016

 

Die Grosse Fuge - Piece for 8 dancers

Choreography Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker

Music Beethoven, Die Grosse Fuge, Op. 133

Recording Debussy Quartet (2006)

Production Jean-Luc Ducourt

Sets and lighting Jan Joris Lamers

Costumes Rosas

Created by the Rosas Company at the Halles de Schaerbeek in 1992

 

Grosse Fugue - Piece for 4 women dancers

Choreography Maguy Marin

Music Beethoven, Die Grosse Fuge, Op. 133

Recording Italiano Quartet 1968, 1969 ©1996, Philips Classics

Costumes Chantal Cloupet

Lighting François Renard

Created by the Maguy Marin Company at the Espace Jean Poperen de Meyzieu on March 17, 2001

Image Bertrand Stofleth

Partners

Expand or collapse Partners