Dance Evening: Fire and Water (World Premiere)

Everything is water, said the Greek philosopher Thales. Heraclitus disagreed: fire is the primary element of the world. Two paradoxical elements, as intangible as they are self-evident. Fire provides warmth, yet is destructive; you can see it, but you cannot touch it. Water is equally paradoxical: hold it in your hands and it slips away; you cannot live without it, yet floods of water can also threaten our lives. Perhaps most curious of all: they exist in an irreconcilable relationship with each other. Fire
puts water to flight and turns it into steam; water extinguishes fire wherever it gets out of control. This conflict was already inherent in Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks.
Written to celebrate a peace treaty in London's Green Park in 1749, the celebration became a little too heated when part of the pavilion caught fire. Fortunately, water rushed to the rescue, falling from the sky to douse the flames. Handel had already transformed the power of water into music in 1717, when a single barge carrying fifty musicians of all kinds played during a nocturnal river excursion in honor of King George I. The king enjoyed it so much that he had it repeated three times on the trip there and back.
Set to Handel's music, Vanaev now explores these two fascinating elements in a choreography that strings together a series of exhilarating, fiery, and humorous episodes. Don't worry if Handel's music proves too explosive once again: dance brings us safely back into harbor.

Choreography and Direction: Sergei Vanaev
Set Design: Johannes Bluth
Costume Design: Sergei Vanaev
Dramaturgy: Josias Ray, Alexander Busch
Rehearsal Director: Wen-Hua Chang
Ballet Repetiteur: Masayuki Carvalho
With Sofia Borgo, Uma Capellari Paltor, Jiyoon Heo, Mimori Hosokawa, Sofia Iseppato, Jenny Krog, Nora Landau Werner, Anna Mastinu, Synne Maria Mikelsen, Flurina Möwes, Cecilie Norrud, Maria Sanchez-Villalobos, Yolana-Maria Batista Vizcarra; Ryan Aptomos, Kay Ebener, Luca Di Giorgio, Andrea Liotti, Stefano Neri, Junior Oliveira, Marco Palamone

Soirée: October 1 | 6:00 pm | Free admission
Open Rehearsal: October 1 | 7:00 pm | Free admission
Premiere: October 10 | 7:30 pm | Followed by an opening night reception in the foyer

Further Performances: October 11 | 4:00 pm + October 28 | 7:30 pm
Introduction half an hour before the performance begins (except for the premiere)
Ticket Prices: €10.50 – €39.00