Opening the dance season at the Israeli Opera with panache, the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company presents Triple Bill – an evening of three works by Artistic Director Jacopo Godani, one of the most exciting contemporary choreographers. Sensual, aesthetic, and physically demanding, all three works reveal a close relationship to music, with composers from Maurice Ravel and Béla Bartók to the contemporary experimental 48nord. Godani’s choreography will be accompanied by live music performed by Ensemble Modern, and pianist Ruslan Bezbrozh.
The works reflect Godani’s vision in every aspect, as choreography, lighting design, set design and costume design are all by Jacopo Godani. The evening’s program:
Metamorphers
Music: Bartók – String Quartet No. 4
Marking the Dresden-Frankfurt Dance Company’s first collaboration with Ensemble Modern, Metamorphers features a complex relationship between movement and music, with the dancers and musicians all performing live onstage. Hungarian composer Béla Bartók (1881 – 1945) is of the great composers of the 20th century. A pianist, he also studied and collected folk music, becoming one of the founders of ethnomusicology. Bartók’s six string quartets are considered among his masterworks, reflecting his more mature style. String Quartet No. 4, is a work in five movements with a symmetry in its structure: movements I and V are similar, as are II and IV, with movement III, at the center, quieter, and different from the others.
Founded in 1980, Ensemble Modern is a unique ensemble of soloists from several countries (including Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, India, Israel, Japan, the USA and Switzerland), forgoing an artistic director at the helm, and making decisions collectively. Performing this evening will be: Diego Ramos Rodriguez – first violin, Jagdish Mistry – violin, Megumi Kaskawa – viola, Michael M. Kasper – cello.
Intermission
Echoes from a Restless Soul
Music: Maurice Ravel – from Gaspard de la Nuit
Echoes from a Restless Soul was created by Godani to two movements of Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, composed in 1908. It is a suite of pieces for solo piano, inspired by the eponymous collection of poems by Aloysius Bertrand. Bertrand ascribed the poems to a book lent him by an elusive man, Gaspard de la nuit, who is apparently, none other than the devil himself. A series of duets and quartets performed en pointe, the choreography reflects Godani’s contemporary classical approach, which, while relying on classical technique, affords a creative freedom in its movement.
Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit will be performed by pianist Ruslan Bezbrozh. Born in Odessa in 1978, Bezbrozh has been based in Germany since 1997. He performs internationally in festivals and concert halls, and has garnered several international awards.
Moto Perpetuo
Music: 48nord (Ulrich Muller and Siegfried Rosert)
A work for the full company, choreographed to music by 48nord. Founded by Ulrich Muller (guitar, live electronics, composition) and Siegfried Rosert (electric and double bass, singer, live electronics, composition), 48nord is noted for its experimental music, fusing acoustic instruments and electronica, with composed as well as improvised elements.
Jacopo Godani was born in La Spezia, Italy and studied the visual arts as well as dance. He made his dance debut in 1988, and formed his own dance company in 1990, marking the beginning of his choreographic career. A leading soloist with William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt from 1991 – 2000, Godani also collaborated with Forsythe on choreography. As a choreographer, Godani has created works for leading international companies, including: Royal Ballet Covent Garden, Compañía Nacional de Danza, Nederlands Dans Theater, Royal Danish Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, Israeli Opera Ballet & Suzanne Dellal Centre, and many more. Godani, who creates all aspects of his works – choreography, set design, lighting design, and costumes, has been the Artistic Director and Choreographer of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company since the 2015 – 2016 season.
Performances will take place at the Israeli Opera, 19 Shaul Hamelech Blvd, Tel Aviv:
Friday, October 13th at 13:00; Saturday, October 14th at 16:00 and 21:00.
Ticket prices range from 269 – 299 NIS, and may be ordered online via the Israeli Opera website.
