Blog

Dear audience!

A season full of new impulses lies ahead of us! Strengthened by our experiences during the pandemic and an awakened awareness regarding questions of discrimination in cultural institutions, we want to address our newly gained insights: on stage, in dance, and in discussions with our audience. We invite you to join classes, rehearsals and talks, and we open the debate with experts to reflect on the future of our art form from as many perspectives as possible.

David Dawson started working with us on a new creation in January 2021, during one of the pandemic’s darkest moments. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, addressed in Max Richter’s album »Voices«, became the background for analysing the Staatsballett’s current constitution.

Everything we want to set in motion crystallises therein. With the world premiere of Sasha Waltz’s SYM-PHONIE MMXX, set to music by Georg Friedrich Haas, a creative process comes to an end which had to be interrupted in spring 2020, three weeks before the work’s initial premiere.

We’re glad that several key protagonists in dance come to work with our ensemble: David Dawson and Sasha Waltz, who can’t but reflect on the complexity of our times in their works; Marcia Haydée and Víctor Ullate, who passionately share an inspiring attitude to life, propelled by the positive force of dance.

At long last, we’ll be treated to Haydée’s long-awaited premiere of SLEEPING BEAUTY and, for the first time, Ullate’s DON QUIXOTE with complete scenography and new light design.

The repertoire selection is shaped by a questioning gaze on our art form: Cranko’s ONEGIN, Balanchine’s JEWELS, Patrice Bart’s SWAN LAKE and our doublebill FORSYTHE | EYAL featuring THE SECOND DETAIL and STRONG return to our season schedule, presenting a wide range of styles, inviting audiences to confront established traditions.

The newly initiated »Mentorship Programme« marks a decisive step towards the future. As a training programme – comprehensive and holistic – for alumni of the Staatliche Ballett- und Artistikschule Berlin, dancers of the Staatsballett engage in one-on-one mentoring sessions to share their experiences with the Fellows. As a result, we’ll present LAB_WORKS 2022 at the end of the season. We’d be delighted if you joined us on our journey!

Together with the ensemble,

Sincerely

Dr. Christiane Theobald
Acting Artistic Director