Ballet Festival Weeks in Munich
The Bavarian State Ballet is celebrating the achievements of the company under the leadership of its director Ivan Liška.
A Pina Bausch premiere, a world premiere and a panorama of masterpieces from the repertoire of the Bayerisches Staatsballett: the famous company in Munich is presenting a stunning range of works under the leadership of its Artistic Director Ivan Liška.
The festival is opening with Pina Bausch’s choreography “For the Children of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”. This is the first time that an ensemble other than her own will be performing a piece by the legendary choreographer from Wuppertal. The Bayerische Staatsballett has been rehearsing the piece for 18 months.
Retrospective: 18 years with Ivan Liška
The Ballet Festival Weeks have been conceived as a stunning kaleidoscope of the ballet company’s achievements with an opening premiere, works from the repertoire and guest performances by internationally acclaimed dance companies. This year’s festival weeks are celebrating the remarkable work of the Bayerisches Staatsballett under its director Ivan Liška.
Liška was personally responsible for establishing the “Terpsichore Gala” which is now being specially dedicated to his work together with the Bayerisches Staatsballett over the past 18 seasons. Terpsichore was a daughter of Zeus and one of the nine muses. The name means “delight in dancing”. The main highlight of the gala is a “Birthday Offering” danced by the stars of Liška’s state ballet company. In addition to this there will be performances by dancers from the National Opera Paris, the Royal Ballet London and the state ballet companies from Berlin and Stuttgart.
Choreography for older dancers
Based on music by Iggy Pop, the choreographer Simone Sandroni created the ballet “The Passenger” especially for some of the company’s more mature artists. The Artistic Director Ivan Liška will also be taking to the stage in this piece alongside ballet mistress Judith Turos. This generation of ballet dancers will be contrasted with the young talents of companies from Amsterdam, Chicago and the protégés from the Bayerisches Staatsballett, the Staatsballett II.
In addition to the premieres, the Ballet Festival Weeks 2016 are also offering an overview of key works performed under Ivan Liška: Paquita (Alexei Ratmansky, Marius Petipa), The Lady of the Camellias (John Neumeier), Le Corsaire (Ivan Liška, Marius Petipa), The Triadic Ballet / Le Sacre du printemps (Oskar Schlemmer, Gerhard Bohner, Mary Wigman) and Onegin (John Cranko).
Ballet Festival Weeks from 3 to 19 April 2016 in Munich
