Tag Archives: Teatro Real of Madrid

One more year of dance at Madrid’s Teatro Real and Barcelona’s Liceu

Dance returns to the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona for a season that will have the public enjoying the performances of some of the world’s most prestigious dance companies. Thanks to the support of the LOEWE FOUNDATION, Spain’s National Ballet, London’s Royal Ballet and the Ballet at the Great Theatre of Geneva will be performing in these two cities.

In November, the Teatro Real will be hosting the National Ballet of Spain that Antonio Najarro directs with Sorolla, a choreography rooted in Spain’s folklore and inspired by Visión de España, the famous collection of works by this renowned Spanish painter that the Hispanic Society commissioned; a most colourful piece during which the company’s corps de ballet assumes the spotlight. In April, it will be the Dresden-Frankfurt Dance Company that Jacopo Godani directs that will be visiting Spain’s capital. Four pieces created by Godani himself that showcase the personal and demanding language of his choreographies; MetamorphersEchoes from a Restless Soul, Postgenoma and Moto Perpetuo feature a Godani who is not only a choreographer but also a stage and costume designer as well as a lighting master. Finally, in July, London’s Royal Ballet will present its new Swan Lake. Based on Marius Petipa’s and Lev Ivanoc timeless masterpiece with score by Piotr I. Tchaikovksy, the choreographers Frederick Ashton first and Liam Scarlett later, have incorporated some additional dance sections throughout the piece.

Another well-known piece opens up the Dance Season of Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu: Roméo & Juliette will be performed by the ballet of Le Grand Théâtre de Genève in its Joëlle Bouvier version, which transforms Prokofiev’s celebrated music into a contemporary piece. The Orquesta Sinfónica del Liceu, under the direction of Manuel Coves, will accompany the dance. In December, the Eifmann Ballet will be staging Anna Karenina, a piece by Boris Eifmann -one of the most acclaimed choreographers in Russia today- who, using Tchaikovsky’s and Tolstoi’s work as his starting point, has created what many consider his masterpiece; Conrad van Alphen will direct the Teatre’s resident orchestra. To end the season, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo will return in May to Barcelona with Le Songe, a choreography by the company’s director Jean-Christophe Maillot based on William Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, whose score is a musical collage by various composers.

More information at, teatro-real.com and liceubarcelona.cat

Photo Captions: Sorolla by the National Ballet of Spain © Stanislav Belyaevsky, Dresden-Frankfurt Dance Company © Paolo Porto. Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo in Le Songe © Alice Blangero.

90 years with Martha Graham

The Company that dancer and choreographer Martha Graham established 90 years ago celebrates its anniversary on the stage of Madrid’s Teatro Real. The Martha Graham Dance Company presents two programmes that feature some of this American choreographer’s most celebrated pieces, along with later additions to the group’s repertoire by contemporary choreographers. Graham, one of the pioneers of Modern Dance, left a choreographic heritage that, together with her teaching method, constitutes one of the 20th century’s most significant legacies; her work, deep and utterly striking, showcased unmistakable costume aesthetics and staging and represented a significant step forward in the creation of stage dancing that has had fundamental consequences in modern-day dance.

From the 8th to the 11th of June, Madrid’s public will be able to enjoy a few historic pieces from her repertoire including ChronicleDiversion of AngelsCave of the Heart or Maple Leaf Rag; and even a recreation of Ekstasis, a solo created by Graham over music by Catalan composer Ramón Humet, which had lain forgotten since 1933; the piece, recently brought to life by Virginie Mécène, represented a moment of inflection in the choreographer’s research of torsion, spiral and contraction work that her technique centres around. The public in Madrid will also have a chance to see Act II of her renowned masterwork Clytemnestra, one of the most celebrated of her Greek tragedy-inspired creations. The two programmes offered in Madrid by the MGDC also include Rust, by Nacho Duato, Mosaic, by Sidi Larbi Cheraoui and Woodland, by Pontus Lidberg.

Madrid’s Teatro Real dance season, with the support of the LOEWE FOUNDATION, closes after showcasing numerous high-quality programmes that have allowed the public to enjoy eclectic and international dance.

More information in www.teatro-real.com and at the theatre’s ticket office..

Photos: PeiJu Chien-Pott in Chronicle, Ben Schultz in Cave of the Heart and Xi Ying in Clytemnestra © Hibbard Nash Photography.

Dance returns to the Teatro Real and the Gran Teatre del Liceu

The support that the LOEWE FOUNDATION gives dance has crystallised, once again, in the ballets that will be performed next season at Madrid’s Teatro Real and Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu. Two opera houses that have made space for a number of companies from all over the world so that they may showcase the best of their repertoires.

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In December, the ballet Coppélia, performed by the National Ballet of Uruguay (Ballet Nacional SODRE), will occupy the Barcelona stage with an emblematic Enrique Martínez version that is respectful of the choreographic tradition and the E.T.A. Hoffman original story it is based on. This dance company, under the direction of Argentinian dancer Julio Bocca will perform accompanied by the Liceu’s Resident Orchestra under the direction of conductor Martín García. Starting in January 2017, the Jove Companya de L’institut del Teatre will provide the counterpoint by putting its dancers to the test in a contemporary programme that includes Wad Ras by Montse Sánchez and Ramón Baeza, Un Ballo  by Jiří Kylián, and Minus 16 by Ohad Naharin.

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Shortly after, in February, the Prejocaj Ballet that the French choreographer by the same name directs, will visit the Barcelona stage for the first time and perform two ballets that are representative of the most committed and brave of their pieces. Spectral Evidence, with score by John Cage, envelops the stage in a ghost-like atmosphere while La Stravaganza, alternating between Vivaldi and contemporary composers, creates a mosaic of transitions on stage inspired by US immigration.

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In January, Le Corsair, choreographed by Frenchman Manuel Legris and based on Petipa’s original, will open the 2016-17 season at Madrid’s Teatro Real. The Wiener Staatsballett that Legris directs revisits this classic inspired by the famous Lord Byron poem with an almost traditional Russian vision that combines men’s virtuosity and strong feminine performances together with a dose of adventure and action. The costume designs and sets are by Luis Spinatelli and the Teatro Real Resident Orchestra will be led by Valery Ovsyanikov.

Moving into April, Spain’s Compañía Nacional de Danza (CND) will dedicate an entire evening to American choreographer William Forsythe. José Carlos Martínez, the CND’s director, has chosen three pieces that showcase Forsythe’s modern and eclectic vision as well as the profound respect Martínez has for the artistic roots of this American artist: The Vertiginous Thrill of the ExactitudArtifact Suite and Enemy in the Figure. In June, the Martha Graham Dance Company will celebrate its 90th anniversary with two programmes that include not only some of the most representative pieces of this American choreographer –such as Deaths & EntrancesCave of the Heart or Maple Leaf Rag– but also a piece by Nacho Duato titled Rust.

Together, these companies will provide a wide range of options to captivate the audience with first class performances throughout the season.

For more information, teatro-real.com and liceubarcelona.cat.

Photographs: Coppélia by the National Ballet of Uruguay/SODER ©Santiago Barreiro. Spectral Evidence by the Prejocaj Ballet ©JCCarbone. Le Corsair ©by the Wiener Staatsballett.

 

Sasha Waltz & Guests in Madrid’s Teatro Real

From 9th to 12th March, and with the support of the LOEWE FOUNDATION, Madrid’s Teatro Real will be staging three of the most recent works by powerful and emotional German Choreographer Sasha Waltz: SacreScène d’Amour and L’Après Midi d’un Faune.

Sasha Waltz & Guests L'Apres-midi d'un Faune

Sasha Waltz & Guests was founded in the 1990’s in response to Waltz’s spiritual curiosity and desire to interact more with a number of different artistic disciplines that she frequently included in her productions. Today, the company is made up of an international ensemble of rotating guest partners who create and perform pieces inspired by German neo-expressionism, leaving no member of the public feeling indifferent.

Sasha Waltz - Consagración (foto Bernd Uhlig)

The Madrid programme includes a version of Le Sacre du Printemps which Waltz created to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the premier of Igor Stravinsky’s original masterpiece. Without completely losing sight of the focus with which the original ballet was conceived, the organic dance and group work result in a production with a primitive edge to it that perfectly conveys Waltz’s language. The programme’s triple bill is completed and balanced out by the romantic subtlety of Scène d’Amour and L’après Midi d’un Faune, whose original scores were written by two like-minded composers –Berlioz and Debussy respectively– who had much in common with Stravinsky. Scène d’Amour, an excerpt from Waltz’s full-length Romeo & Juliet, is shown as an independent piece featuring a duet, whilst L’après Midi d’un Faune portrays a sensual ambience inspired by the homonymous symphonic poem.

Sasha Waltz - Consagración - 2(foto Bernd Uhlig)

For these performances, Madrid’s Teatro Real Resident Orchestra –The Symphonic Orchestra of Madrid– directed by Titus Engel, will accompany a dance company that holds a prominent position in Europe’s creative scene. This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy contemporary dance of the highest quality, one that looks to the past without losing the freshness of the present.

Additional information at 915 060 660 (www.teatro-real.com)

Photo Captions: L’après Midi d’un Faune and Sacre © Bernd Uhlig.