Press kit Season 2020/2021 6 March 2020

PRODUCTIONS 2020/2021

PREMIERES

World premiere N.N. [Creation Øyen] Dance piece by Alan Lucien Øyen Music by N.N. 4, 6, 13, 20 September, 1, 16 October, 10 November, 17, 21, 28 December 2020 Komische Oper

DORNRÖSCHEN Choreography by Marcia Haydée after Marius Petipa Music by Peter I. Tschaikowsky 15, 17, 19, 23, 29 October, 4, 12 November 2020, 21, 24 May, 16, 17, 21 June 2021

DAWSON | MCGREGOR The Four Seasons Choreography by David Dawson Chroma Choreography by Wayne McGregor 3, 6, 8 December 2020, 8 January, 2, 22, 27 February, 25 March 5, 18, 24 April 2021 Deutsche Oper Berlin

BALLETTABEND MATS EK A sort of… Choreography by Mats Ek N.N. 30 April, 2, 3, 8, 16, 29 May, 4, 8, 10, 18 June 2021 Staatsoper Unter den Linden

REPERTOIRE

SWAN LAKE Choreography by Patrice Bart after Lew Iwanow and Marius Petipa Music by Peter I. Tschaikowsky Deutsche Oper Berlin 29 August, 1, 7, 12, 18 September 2020, 5 May, 3, 11, 14 June 2021

SYM-PHONIE 2020 for Dance, Light and Orchestra Choreography by Sasha Waltz Music by Georg Friedrich Haas Staatsoper Unter den Linden 2, 11, 21, 24, 28, 30 October, 26, 27 November, 5 December 2020, 27 January 2021

THE NUTCRACKER -Féerie by Vasily Medvedev and Yuri Burlaka after Marius Petipa Music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky Deutsche Oper Berlin 15, 16, 19, 26, 30 December 2020, 1 January 2021

ONEGIN Choreography by Music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky Staatsoper Unter den Linden 18, 23, 25, 29 December 2020, 3 January, 3, 5, 20 March, 7, 9 April 2021

EKMAN | EYAL LIB Choreography by Alexander Ekman STRONG Dance piece by Sharon Eyal Staatsoper Unter den Linden 23, 29 January, 5, 7, 24 February, 13, 18, 29, 30 March,

SUNNY Dance piece by Emanuel Gat Music by Awir Leon Komische Oper Berlin 9 March, 8, 14 April, 15, 24 June 2021

GUEST PERFORMANCE

TANZTHEATER WUPPERTAL PINA BAUSCH NELKEN A Piece by Pina Bausch Staatsoper Unter den Linden 20, 21, 22, 23 August 2020

LANDESJUGENDBALLETT AN DER STAATLICHEN BALLETTSCHULE BERLIN Staatsoper Unter den Linden 25 May, 6, 25 June 2021

PREVIEW SEASON 21/22

RIMNINI PROTOKOLL/ STEFAN KAEGI Premiere 4 September 2021 Komische Oper Berlin

DATA AND FACTS SEASON 2020/2021

ARTISTIC DIRECTION Sasha Waltz and Johannes Öhman

GENERAL DIRECTOR Jenny Mahr

DEPUTY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Dr. Christiane Theobald

ENSEMBLE 92 dancers

STAGES Deutsche Oper Berlin Komische Oper Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden

PERFORMANCES 2019/2020 a total of 102 ballet performances on the three main stages of the Stiftung Oper in Berlin, comprising

- 40 performances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin - 48 performances at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden - 14 performances at the Komische Oper Berlin

PREMIERES N.N. [Creation Øyen] 4 September 2020 SLEEPING BEAUTY 15 October 2020 DAWSON| MCGREGOR 3 December 2020 BALLETTABEND MATS EK 30 APRIL 2021

REPERTOIRE SCHWANENSEE SYM-PHONIE 2020 DER NUSSKNACKER ONEGIN EKMAN | EYAL SUNNY

OUR GUEST TANZTHEATER WUPPERTAL PINA BAUSCH LANDESJUGENDBALLETT AN DER STAATLICHEN BALLETTSCHULE BERLIN

SPONSORS Verein der Freunde und Förderer des Staatsballetts Berlin

MAIN SPONSOR Weberbank

CONTACT Staatsballett Berlin Richard-Wagner-Straße 10 10585 Berlin Phone +49 (0)30 34 384 140 Fax + 49 (0)30 34 384 141 [email protected] www.staatsballett-berlin.de

TICKET SALE

ADVANCED TICKET SALES General ticket sales open on 15 April 2020. For the Friends and Sponsors of the Staatsballet Berlin, holders of the TanzTicket or the StaatsopernCard and subscribers of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, advanced ticket sales will open on 1 April 2020.

STAATSBALLETT BERLIN, TICKET SERVICE Unter den Linden 7, 10117 Berlin, Germany Phone + 49 (0)30 20 60 92 630 Fax + 49 (0)30 20 35 44 83 [email protected] www.staatsballett-berlin.de

BOX OFFICES

STAATSOPER UNTER DEN LINDEN Unter den Linden 7, 10117 Berlin Daily 11 am to 60 minutes before the performance, on days without a performance until 7 pm

DEUTSCHE OPER BERLIN Bismarckstraße 35, 10627 Berlin Mon-Sat and holidays 11 am until the start of the performance, on days without a performance until 7 pm

KOMISCHE OPER BERLIN Unter den Linden 41, 10117 Berlin Mon-Sat 11 am – 7 pm, Sun and holidays 1 pm until 4 pm

STAATSBALLETT BERLIN PORTRAIT

The Staatsballett Berlin was founded in 2004 as a result of the reunification of the former ballet ensembles of Berlin’s three houses - the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Komische Oper Berlin and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The consolidation made the Staatsballett the biggest classically trained company in Germany with 92 dancers.

Performance venues are the stages of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Komische Oper Berlin and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. In addition to these regular locations, the company also takes up opportunities to dance at other venues in the city. Since 2011, the Staatsballett Berlin has been based at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. The opera house’s former paint workshops have now become modern ballet studios that offer excellent working conditions.

Under the artistic direction of its founding director, Vladimir Malakhov, the company has become a successful and acknowledged part of Berlin’s culture. After 10 years of directing the company, Vladimir Malakhov passed the direction to who broadened the repertoire with classical and contemporary choreographies while focusing on neoclassical works.

With the 2018/2019 season, Johannes Öhman took over as Director of the Staatsballett Berlin and was joined by Sasha Waltz from 2019/2020 onwards in a Co-directorship. The focus of their artistic curation is to introduce and create new original works for the company as well as display the rich heritage of dance from its beginnings to the present day. SASHA WALTZ ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE STAATSBALLETT BERLIN

Sasha Waltz is a choreographer, dancer and director. After her first studies at the School of New Dance Development in Amsterdam, she joined the postmodern oriented dance scene that worked in close exchange with the other arts. In 1986 and 1987 she danced in the New York based companies of Pooh Kaye, Yoshiko Chumo & School of Hard Knocks and Lisa Kraus & Dancers. Driven by the spirit of that scene, she developed the improvisational format DIALOGE in the early 1990s in Berlin. She chose the young German capital as the center of her activities where she practiced new choreographic approaches in self-developed infrastructures. Together with Jochen Sandig she founded the dance company Sasha Waltz & Guests in 1993 and in 1996 the Sophiensaele as a venue for dance and more, nowadays a centre of the independent dance and theatre scene not only in Germany. From 2000 until 2005 she was one of the directors of the Schaubühne at Lehniner Platz. During this first decade in Berlin, she created internationally renown and influencial dance pieces such as the trilogies TRAVELOGUE and KÖRPER as well as the immersive dance installation INSIDEOUT.

In the following years she applied the language and strategies of contemporary dance to vitalize and explore historical and new and . With DIDO & AENEAS (2005), MEDEA (2007) and MATSUKAZE (2011) she realized three pieces about women and at the same time established the genre of the choreographic opera. In 2007 she directed ROMÉO ET JULIETTE, interpreting the dramatic symphony of Hector Berlioz, for the Opéra National de Paris. From this followed SACRE in 2013 set to the music of Igor Strawinsky commissioned by the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, and in 2014 TANNHÄUSER at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

Simultaneously Sasha Waltz has been pursuing the sharing and teaching of dance knowledge and promoting dance as a medium of social and sociopolitical communication. As part of this endeavor, she founded the Berlin based Kindertanzcompany (Children's Dance Company) in 2007 and, following an invitation from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, developed a choreography with over 100 pupils to dance Schtschedrin's CARMEN-SUITE. In 2016 she founded the event format ZUHÖREN with which she opened a »third space« for art and politics. She expanded the DIALOGE-concept to incorporate danced responses to architecture wherein the audience is invited to act as an equal part of the choreographic happening. Examples of this are DIALOGE 09 performed in the still vacant interior of the in Berlin after the renovation by David Chipperfield (2009) and the choreographic installation FIGURE HUMAINE for the inauguration of the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie (2017).

In her present choreographic work, Waltz is focusing on the intensification of collaborative processes, such as the synchronic development of choreography and music. In collaboration with Soundwalk Collective and the costume designer Iris van Herpen (among others), she created the choreography KREATUR (2017) followed by EXODUS (August 2018), both premiered at Radialsystem V in Berlin. In 2019 she choreographed her latest work »rauschen« for the Volksbühne Berlin. In parallel with the artistic direction of her dance company for which she creates pieces on a regular basis, Sasha Waltz is Artistic Director of the Staatsballett Berlin since 2019/2020 together with co-director Johannes Öhman and will present her creation SYM-PHONIE 2020 in April 2020.

For her special services Sasha Waltz was granted the German Federal Cross of Merit. Since 2013 she is a member of the Academy of Arts Berlin. JOHANNES ÖHMAN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE STAATSBALLETT BERLIN

Born in Stockholm, , Sven Johannes Öhman studied at the Kungliga Svenska Balettskolan (Royal Swedish Ballet School) in Stockholm and in Paris.

In 1987 he was hired by the Royal Swedish Ballet and appointed soloist in 1991. Between 1986 and 1988 he also worked as a soloist at the Basel Ballet in Switzerland. He won the Paris Opera »Prix Rayonnement« in the Inter- national Ballet Competition in Paris in 1986 and was a finalist in the Varna International Ballet Competition the same year.

From 2002 to 2007, Johannes Öhman was the Artistic Director of Stockholm 59°North, a modern dance ensemble with soloists of the Royal Swedish Ballet, which toured both in Sweden and abroad.

Between 2007 to 2011 he was the Director of the Gothenburg Operans Danskompani (formerly Gothenburg Ballet). In 2011 he took over management of the Royal Swedish Ballet, founded in 1773 by King Gustav III and one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Today it is the largest ensemble in Sweden with a total of 67 dancers. As one of his first acts as new director of the company, Öhman commissioned a new ballet: JULIA & ROMEO by Mats Ek, who was already a guest at the Paris Opera, in London, Germany and the United States. This piece won the Olivier for Best New Dance Production in 2015.

During his time at the Royal Swedish Ballet, Öhman significantly expanded the company's repertoire. He presented works by choreographers of the likes of Crystal Pite, William Forsythe, David Dawson, Sasha Waltz, Wim Vandekeybus and commissioned world premieres by Frank Andersen, Olivier Dubois, Sharon Eyal, Emanuel Gat and Johan Inger.

For outstanding artistic contributions as artistic director he received H.M. the King’s Litteris et Artibus in 2016.

Johannes Öhman has been the artistic director of the Staatsballett Berlin since August 2018. He was joined by choreographer Sasha Waltz in August 2019. ALAN LUCIEN ØYEN CHOREOGRAPHER

Alan Lucien Øyen, born and raised in Bergen, works as a choreographer, playwright and stage director and is considered to be one of Norway's most fascinating contemporary artists. He studied dance with the Bulgarian Peter Tornev and at the State Academy of Art in Oslo, where he graduated in 2001. His first years as a professional dancer he spent with the Carte Blanche Norway Dance Company, in 2005 he joined Amanda Miller's Pretty Ugly Dance Company in Cologne.

Alan Lucien Øyen created his first piece in 2004. In 2006 he established his own company Winter Guests, a multidisciplinary group bringing together actors, dancers, writers, set designers and technicians, touring with a dozen theatrical works in English for the international stage. He has been working with the British playwright Andrew Wale since 2009. His works combine strong visual effects with text and movement in to find a true, human, sometimes very personal expression.

Alan Lucien Øyen has won several awards, both for his choreographic works as well as his theatre productions, among them the important Norwegian HEDDA Theatre (for his six hour long play COELACANTH, co-written by Andrew Wale), and the Tom Wilhelmsen Opera and Ballet Prize (2018) for challenging the traditional opera and ballet context with his original theatre works.

As one of the leaders of a new Scandinavian artists’ generation, Øyen is commissioned internationally to create for opera houses, dance companies and regional theatres. He’s ›Artist in Residence‹ with the Norwegian National Opera Oslo. To create new original works, he was invited by the Gothenburg Opera, most recently by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch (2018) and the Opéra national de Paris (2020), to mention the most famous. For the first time, he is working on a world premiere for the Staatsballett Berlin.

MARCIA HAYDÉE CHOREOGRAPHER

Marcia Haydée was born in Brazil in 1937. She studied at Sadler's Wells School in London and performed as a student at the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro. After several years with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, Marcia Haydée joined the Stuttgarter Ballett in 1961. The then ballet director and choreographer John Cranko recognized and encouraged her talent. In 1962, Marcia Haydée became primaballerina. In the decades of her extraordinary career, she developed into one of the most important international dancers of the post-war period. Marcia Haydee's dance art inspired not only John Cranko, but also other important choreographers such as Kenneth Macmillan, Maurice Béjart and John Neumeier. They created female roles for her, for example in ballets such as THE TAMING OF THE SHREW and ONEGIN (Cranko), THE SONG OF THE EARTH (Macmillan), ENDSTATION SEHNSUCHT and KAMELIENDAME (Neumeier).

In 1976 Haydée was appointed Ballet Director of the Stuttgarter Ballett and directed the company until 1996. Marcia Haydée made her debut as choreographer with her SLEEPING BEAUTY production in May 1987. Other creations followed, such as ENAS for and Richard Cragun as well as GISELLE UND DIE WILLIS. From 1992 to 1995 and again since 2003/04, Marcia Haydée is also director of the Ballet de Santiago de Chile. She choreographed THE FIREBIRD and COPPELIUS THE WIZARD for this company. In January 2009 her new production of SWAN LAKE was premiered at the Royal Ballet of Flanders in Antwerp. Marcia Haydée bas been awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit. DAVID DAWSON CHOREOGRAPHER

David Dawson was born in London and trained at the Arts Educational School and the Royal Ballet School. He has danced as first soloist and principal at the Birmingham Royal Ballet, at the English National Ballet, at the Dutch National Ballet and at the Ballet Frankfurt under William Forsythe.

At the beginning of the 2000s he focussed exclusively on his choreographic work, and was appointed house choreographer of the Dutch National Ballet, the Semperoper Ballet and the Royal Flanders Ballet. Dawson’s ballets have been performed in over 25 countries and honoured with numerous awards and nominations. For his piece THE GREY AREA (2002) for example, he won the Prix Benois de la Danse as Best Choreographer and for REVERENCE (2005), produced at the invitation of the Mariinsky Ballet, he was awarded the Golden Mask.

In 2013, he was a jury member at the Prix Benois de la Danse in Moscow and at the international ballet festival, Dance Open in St. Petersburg. In 2019, he was named Artistic Patron to Junior Ballet Antwerp. He has been a permanent artistic member of the Dutch National Ballet since 2015.

WAYNE MCGREGOR CHOREOGRAPHER

Wayne McGregor was born in 1970 in Stockport, England. He studied choreography and semiology in Bretton Hall, West Yorkshire and at the José Limon School in New York.

In 1992, he founded the company Random Dance, which has grown into Studio Wayne McGregor, a research center for asthetics. This network includes dancers, authors, composers, programmers and other members who work on the art of movement, on thoughts and partnerships extensively. For his company Wayne McGregor, he has made over 30 works that are touring internationally. His company is Resident Company at Sadler’s Wells in London.

Since 2006 McGregor has been Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet, the first choreographer from a contemporary dance background to be invited into the role. He has made 16 works for The Royal Ballet, from CHROMA (2006), winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, to full- length evening WOOLF WORKS (2015).

McGregor is regularly commissioned with new works by the biggest ballet companies in the world including , Bolshoi Ballet, the New York City Ballet and the Bayerisches Staatsballett Munich. His choreographies are also in demand in the branches of theatre, opera, music videos (e.g. Radiohead), fashion shows, TV and film.

Wayne McGregor is Professor of Choreography at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and has an Honorary Doctor of Science from Plymouth University and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from University of Leeds. McGregor's work has earned him a multitude of awards including four Critics' Circle Awards, two Time Out Awards, two Olivier Awards, a prix Benois de la Danse and furthermore two Golden Mask Awards. In 2011, McGregor was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for Services to Dance.

MATS EK CHOREOGRAPHER

Ek was born in Malmo, Sweden and wanted to be an actor in his early years. He took drama classes at Marieborg Folks College in Norrkoping, Sweden, in 1965, and went on to produce plays at the Marionett Theatre and the Royal Dramatic Theatre and even worked with the legendary film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman during this time. As the son of acclaimed choreographer Birgit Cullberg, he returned to his origins by training with Russian émigré Lilian Karina and later with Donya Feuer. In 1973, he joined the Cullberg Ballet as a dancer, where Maurice Béjart and Jirí Kylián worked with him. Ek choreographed several works over the next few years, beginning with SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON (1976). In 1982, he reinterpreted the classic ballet GISELLE and presented the public with a radically different work. Although other choreographers had revisited this classic, no one had ever altered the form and text upon which the ballet was founded. Ek's GISELLE was a contemporary version that revised structure, technique and style oft he traditional work. Critics called it the beginning of a new epoch in dance. Ek became Artistic Director of the Cullberg Ballet in 1985. He created more revisionist versions of classics, including SWAN LAKE (1987) and CARMEN (1992). As well, he created his own works, which typically involve the use of parallel narratives and humour. In 1993, Ek resigned his post, but continued to create new works that are performed worldwide. Ek has created for the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier, Nederlands Dans Theater, Paris Opera and Les Grands Ballet Canadien de Montréal. Mats Ek influenced generations of dancers and created a choreographic style that evoke grotesque impressions that oscillate between reality and dream, but always with an analytical and loving view on the human condition.

World premiere N.N. [Creation Øyen] Dance piece by Alan Lucien Øyen Music by N.N. Choreography: Alan Lucien Øyen Stage: Åsmund Færavaag Costumes: Stine Sjøgren Light: Avi Yona Bueno

Dramaturgy: Andrew Wale

Dancers of the Staatsballett Berlin

World premiere 4 September 2020

Performances 6, 13, 20 September 2020 1, 16 October 2020 10 November 2020 17, 21, 28 December 2020 Komische Oper Berlin

Music from recording

Choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen, currently ›Artist in Residence‹ at the Norwegian National Ballet Oslo, is also stage director and video artist. Trained in Bergen with the contemporary dance company Carte Blanche Norway, he founded his own company Winter Guests in 2006 for which he created a dozen pieces and toured in more than sixteen countries. Combining text and movement, Alan Lucien Øyen follows the footsteps of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, who commissioned a piece to him in 2018. In 2020, he is working on a creation for the Paris Opera Ballet.

Being one of the leaders of the new Scandinavian artist generation, he offers works that are as visual as they are choreographic. He builds an imaginary world where illusion prevails over reality. Invited for the first time to work with the dancers of Staatsballett Berlin, Alan Lucien Øyen is about to create a dance piece in which his dramatic and theatrical inspiration will be staged with intense creativity.

Premiere DORNRÖSCHEN Ballet in three acts and prologue Libretto by Charles Perrault Le Belle au bois dormant Music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky

Choreography and production: Marcia Haydée after Marius Petipa Stage and costumes: Jordi Roig Light: Vinicio Cheli

Musical Director: Ido Arad, Alondra de la Parra, Robert Reimer

Soloists and Corps de ballet of the Staatsballett Berlin Students of the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Premiere 15 October 2020

Performances 17, 19, 23, 29 October 2020 4, 12 November 2020 21, 24 May 2021 16, 17, 21 June 2021 Deutsche Oper Berlin

Duration: Three hours incl. one break

SLEEPING BEAUTY is undoubtedly one of the most famous classical ballets. Based on the compellingly beautiful score by Peter I. Tschaikovsky, it has a firm place in the ballet repertoire. Marcia Haydée, former ballerina of the , muse of John Cranko and a legend herself, recreates this key work of ballet history as a choreographer. She develops her own version with Staatsballett Berlin following the fairy tale of Charles Perrault.

In the ballet libretto the fairies are in the center of the action: The magical classical variations at the little princess Aurora's cradle are danced blessings with the successively appearing fairies of beauty, wisdom, grace, eloquence and strength. The evil fairy Carabosse, who inadvertently wasn't invited to the baptism of little Aurora, curses the princess and predicts her death on her 16th birthday. The bad spell can luckily be averted by the benevolent Lilac Fairy’s blessings. However, the girl falls into a sleep for hundred years, and only the kiss of a prince can release the spell.

The contrast between good and evil, archaically inscribed in the fairy tale, is also the focus of Marcia Haydée's version. The Carabosse personifies the dark side of life, already performed by a male dancer at the premiere by none other than famous Enrico Cecchetti. Marcia Haydée is especially interested in deeper facets of this character and draws a psychological portrait of evil, convinced that no one is exclusively evil.

With great attention to detail, Jordi Roig designs entirely new costumes and sets to unfold the opulence and unique magic of this fairy tale to unravel its enchanting choreographic poetry. Premiere DAWSON | MCGREGOR Choreographies by David Dawson and Wayne McGregor

THE FOUR SEASONS Ballet by David Dawson Music by Max Richter after Antonio Vivaldi Choreography: David Dawson Stage: Eno Henze Costumes: Yumiko Takeshima Light: Bert Dalhuysen Production: Raphaël Coumes-Marquet, Rebecca Gladstone

CHROMA Choreography by Wayne McGregor Music by Joby Talbot and Jack White III Choreography: Wayne McGregor Stage: John Pawson Costumes: Moritz Junge Light: Lucy Carter Production: Antoine Vereecken

Soloists and Corps de ballet of the Staatsballett Berlin

Premiere 3 December 2020

Performances 6, 8 December 2020 8 January 2021 2, 22, 27 February 2021 25 March 2021 5, 18, 24 April 2021 Deutsche Oper Berlin

Music from recording Duration: One hour and 40 minutes incl. one break

Dawson’s ballets are highly complex and interconnected intellectual interpenetration with the aesthetic-emotional expression of dance. His ballet THE FOUR SEASONS is based upon Max Richter’s new composition of Antonio Vivaldi’s Baroque original and inspired Dawson, born out of profoundly human feelings, to create a piece about the cycle of life: »I always associate the change of the seasons with the journey of life ― from birth to death, beginning and end, and everything human inbetween: joy, love, fear, and loss.« The choreography appears as a journey that is held within a space assigned to each of the four elements. The focus is always on the human being, suspended in a state of constant movement, creating timeless moments within the ever changing dimensions of perception, energy and possibility – between life and death, always knowing and never knowing.

British choreographer Wayne McGregor in the recent decades has created some highly intellectual and visually ravishing dance works whose elaborated concepts were enthusiastically received by audiences and critics alike. In his ballet CHROMA he explores the »environment for a new choreography where the grammar and articulation of the human body is made crystal clear, graphic and unmediated«, as he himself describes it.

The music of Joby Talbot, newly composed, and supplemented by his arrangements of the American rock band The White Stripes, is combined with a clear, luminous stage set designed by the minimalist architect John Pawson. CHROMA, inventive and full of energy, was premiered at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 2006.

Premiere BALLETTABEND MATS EK Choreographies by Mats Ek

A SORT OF… Music by Henryk M. Górecki Choreography: Mats Ek Sets and Costume: Maria Geber Light Design: Ellen Ruge

N.N. Music by N.N. Choreography: N.N.

Premiere: 30 April 2021

Aufführungen: 2, 3, 8, 16, 29 May 2021 4, 8, 10, 18 June 2021 Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Dancers of the Staatsballett Berlin

Music from recording

Mats Ek is one of the leading personalities of 20th century choreography. With his radical reinterpretation of the ballet classic GISELLE for the Cullberg Ballet he caused widespread international resonance in 1982 because no one previously had dared to change the original choreographic text and the form of the libretto. In this version, critics and audience recognized the beginning of a new era of theatrical dance.

»My choreographies are underlaid with a subtext: when you dance them, you have to connect certain images and feelings with the movement. Without them the movements just appear strange and peculiar. The focus always has to be clear: for a solo, it’s directed to the interior of the person, for several dancers it’s related to the partners«, as Mats Ek himself describes the attitude being necessary to perform his choreographies. With the dancers of the Staatsballett Berlin, he is now working on his piece A SORT OF…, which premiered in 1997 at the Nederlands Dans Theatre. With this programme, he finds his way into the Berlin ballet repertoire for the first time. Repertoire SWAN LAKE Ballet in two acts Music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky

Choreography: Patrice Bart after Lew Iwanow and Marius Petipa Sets and costumes: Luisa Spinatelli

Musical Direction: Ido Arad, Alevtina Joffe

Soloists and Corps de ballet of the Staatsballett Berlin Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Performances 29 August 2020 1, 7, 12, 18 September 2020 5 May 2021 3, 11, 14 June 2021 Deutsche Oper Berlin

Duration: 2 hours 50 minutes incl. one break

The white swans and their fragile queen Odette who with her ethereal spell bewitches the melancholic prince, or the festive ball scenes during which the entire court falls into a frenzy over the seductive Odile – it is images like these that have created the myth of SWAN LAKE.

This ballet tells the story of Prince Siegfried and the spellbound Princess Odette, who is trapped in the figure of a swan. In the staging by Staatsballett Berlin the famous swan scenes are retained with their archaic impact, but the constellation of characters around the unhappy prince is slightly modified to allow a psychological turn. Prince Siegfried’s mother whose love for her son in slightly unhinged, holds his fate entirely in her hands. Siegfried’s jealous friend Benno and the character of the influential Prime Minister Rotbart are set into a new light.

Peter I. Tchaikovsky’s incomparable score contributes distinctively to the unique atmosphere that is inseparably connected to the audience’s timeless perception of SWAN LAKE. Repertoire SYM-PHONIE 2020 For Dance, Light and Orchestra Choreography by Sasha Waltz Music by Georg Friedrich Haas (commissioned work)

Concept and choreography: Sasha Waltz Sets: Pia Maier Schriever Costumes: Bernd Skodzig Light Design: David Finn

Musical direction: Ilan Volkov

Dancers of the Staatsballett Berlin Staatskapelle Berlin

Performances 2, 11, 21, 24, 28, 30 October 2020 26, 27 November 2020 5 December 2020 27 January 2021 Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Duration: ca. 90 minutes without break

Sasha Waltz has created a new work for dance and music at the Staatsballett Berlin. The choreographer commissioned the renowned composer Georg Friedrich Haas to compose original ballet music for a joint creation. After numerous operas, this is his first official stage work for dance. Composed for a large symphonic ensemble of the Staatskapelle Berlin, the music gives room to elements defined by dance, which create a close connection between musical language and the dancers' body language. Georg Friedrich Haas is one of the most successful composers of contemporary music. His success is due in part to his utopic urge, »unattainable in hundred percent perfection«, to create a new music that is both expressive and soothing ― not despite of its newness but precisely because it is new.

The production's concept, in the best tradition of dance history, is based on the inspiring encounter of the arts and has been declared the artistic guideline: music, dance and visual arts are transformed by Sasha Waltz and her team into a full-length work premiered in 2020 on the stage of Staatsoper Unter den Linden.

Repertoire THE NUTCRACKER Ballet-feerie in two acts and four scenes with prologue after the story by E. T. A. Hoffmann Libretto by Vasily Medvedev and Yuri Burlaka after the scenario by Marius Petipa Music by Peter I. Tschaikovsky

Choreography: Vasily Medvedev and Yuri Burlaka based on the original choreography by Lev Ivanov Set design based on historical designs: Andrej Voytenko Costume design: Tatiana Noginova

Musical Direction: Robert Reimer

Soloists and Corps de ballet of the Staatsballett Berlin Students of the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin Children's Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Performances 15, 16, 19, 26, 30 December 2020 1 January 2021 Deutsche Oper Berlin

Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes incl. one break

THE NUTCRACKER is an obligatory work in the Staatsballett Berlin repertoire: Vasily Medvedev and Yuri Burlaka, two Russian choreographers and connoisseurs of the ballet tradition, have created a version for the Staatsballett Berlin based on the scenery and choreography used at its world premiere in 1892. Set and costume designs are adapted from the historical templates, which are part of the treasures of Russia’s ballet archives. The choreography, which was created for the premiere by Lev Ivanov, is largely based on his specifications. It was him who helped define ballet’s characteristic standards of taste and whose art is setting ballet styles to this day.

In combination with the brilliance of today’s dance art, this production – a loving reconstruction designed as a great ballet-feerie – unfolds its nostalgic charm and is a cheerful lead-in to christmas: A stroke of musical genius, as if Peter I. Tschaikovsky had composed the falling snowflakes or the scent of spices.

Repertoire ONEGIN Choreography by John Cranko after the novel by Alexander S. Puschkin Music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky (arranged by Kurt-Heinz Stolze)

Choreography: John Cranko Sets and Costumes: Elisabeth Dalton

Musical Direction: Paul Connelly

Soloists and Corps de ballet of the Staatsballett Berlin Staatskapelle Berlin

Performances 18, 23, 25, 29 December 2020 3 January 2021 3, 5, 20 March 2021 7, 9 April 2021 Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Duration: 2 hours 20 minutes incl. 2 breaks

Eugen Onegin, a young aristocrat who seems completely self-absorbed, is tired of the big-city life and travels with his friend Lensky to the countryside to visit his fiancée, Olga. In the idyllic world of the Larina family he encounters the shy Tatyana, who is fully dedicated to her books. The beautiful young girl falls in love with him immediately and confesses her feelings in a letter to him. Onegin rejects her commitment and tears the letter in front of her. Tatyana feels shattered by his cold reaction, and finally Lensky challenges Onegin to a duel, after his friend provoked him by dancing exuberantly with Olga. Years later Onegin meets the elegant and distinguished Tatyana during a soirée, who in the meanwhile is married to Prince Gremin. The tide is turning.

Choreographer John Cranko adapted Pushkin's verse novel as a story ballet, creating one of the masterpieces of 20th century ballet history. With his incomparable feeling for subliminal sensitivities which are inscribed in the characters choreographically and representatively, John Cranko tells the myth of unfulfilled love. The music is based on compositions by Peter I. Tschaikovsky, but without using a single bar from his ONEGIN opera.

Repertoire EKMAN | EYAL Choreographies by Alexander Ekman and Sharon Eyal

LIB Piece by Alexander Ekman Music by DEVO, John Lennon, Talking Heads, Maverick Sabre Choreography: Alexander Ekman Costumes: Charlie Le Mindu Light: Alexander Ekman Light Execution: Irene Selka

STRONG Dance piece by Sharon Eyal Music by Ori Lichtik Choreography: Sharon Eyal Co-Choreography: Gai Behar Stage: Sharon Eyal und Gai Behar Costumes: Rebecca Hytting Light Design: Alon Cohen

Dancers of the Staatsballett Berlin

Performances: 23, 29 January 2021 5, 7, 24 February 2021 13, 18, 29, 30 March 2021 Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Music from recording Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes incl. one break

Alexander Ekman is known for his fast-paced timing, witty humor and clever staging. He aims at creating works which both entertain and question the audience. Since 2006, he has devoted his time to creating choreographies all across the globe. Having been fascinated by the creations of hair artist Charlie Le Mindu, especially his Chewbacca costumes which completely wrap their wearers in long hair, Alexander Ekman he created a world premiere for Staatsballett Berlin. His piece LIB (referring to ›liberation‹) he developed with four female Principals and a male Soloist Dancer of the company. LIB would not be a work by Alexander Ekman, if it did not have a humorous and bizarre note.

Sharon Eyal’s choreographies can be described as vibrant experiments on the border between precision and supposed excess. Her works seem to strike a nerve with audiences and dancers. The uncompromising Israeli choreographer has long since found a very personal, unmistakable artistic signature. She is increasingly conquering European dance stages. For STRONG, her first new creation in Berlin, she explored with the dancers of Staatsballett Berlin the emotional authenticity being necessary for the interpretation of her pieces. Repertoire SUNNY Dance piece by Emanuel Gat Music by Awir Leon

Choreography and Light Design: Emanuel Gat Costumes: Thomas Bradley

Dancers of the Staatsballett Berlin

Performances: 9 March 2021 8, 14 April 2021 15, 24 June 2021 Komische Oper Berlin

Music from recording Duration: 1 hour without break

For several years, Emanuel Gat has been one of the leading personalities in the field of contemporary dance presenting his work SUNNY for the first time at Dance Biennale Venice in 2016. The Israel-born and France-based choreographer often accesses his works through music, in this case in collaboration with Awir Leon. The musician and producer, hailing from the techno scene, created an acoustic space in a free-flowing form, oscillating between new and familiar sounds, difficult experiment and sheer pleasure, exploring new fields for the perception of movement, involving interpreters and spectators alike. His own company, Emanuel Gat Dance, has been frequently invited to Berlin, winning over audiences and critics alike. Emanuel Gat redeveloped this vibrant experiment of structure and emotion together with the Staatsballett Berlin and premiered it at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in December 2019.

Guest Performance TANZTHEATER WUPPERTAL PINA BAUSCH NELKEN A piece by Pina Bausch Music by Franz Lehár, Louis Armstrong, Sophie Tucker, Quincy Jones,

Choreography: Pina Bausch Sets: Peter Pabst Costumes: Marion Cito Dramaturgy: Raimund Hoghe Musical collaboration: Matthias Burkert Collaboration: Hans Pop

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch and Guests

Performances: 20, 21, 22, 23 August 2020 Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Music from recording Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes without break

The choreographer Pina Bausch and her ensemble, the Tanztheater Wuppertal, has made a lasting impression on the European scene. Her singular artistic language produces a very intimate feeling in which words, images and movement are intuitively connected. Together with her dancers of different cultures and generations, she asks questions and develops works that many years after their creation still convince and touch the audience worldwide with timeliness, power and an honest view on humanity. NELKEN (1982) unquestionably belongs to the legacy of the Tanztheater Wuppertal and is one of the most striking works in the history of the 20th century stage. A huge field planted with 8,000 carnations is a playground of apparent havoc interspersed with mythical scenes. The world vision is revealed here to be both tragic and cruel yet tender and bursting with humanity, and it has touched audiences the world over. NELKEN, world premiere 30 December 1982 at Opernhaus Wuppertal, performed today by a new cast, is a timeless masterpiece and undeniably showcases Pina Bausch’s visual and theatrical genius.

Guest Performance LANDESJUGENBALLETT AN DER STAATLICHEN BALLETTSCHULE BERLIN Preserving tradition - daring to try something new

Students of the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin

Performances 25 May 2021 6, 25 June 2021 Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Music from recording

It has been a tradition for decades that the students of the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin present the results of their training every year at a festive gala on the stages of the Berlin opera houses. From the youngest to the graduates, pupils are involved in a programme that documents the multifaceted nature of professional dance education and at the same time challenges young artists to show what they are capable of achieving and to express their joy in a unique profession. The young dancers prove that they cultivate and preserve the classical-academic heritage and at the same time dare to face the challenges of contemporary choreography.

TANZ IST KLASSE! e.V.

Tanz ist KLASSE! e.V. is the education programme of the Staatsballett Berlin. On behalf of the association, former dancers of the Staatsballett Berlin let children and young people participate in their fascinating world of dance and ballet. Since its foundation in 2007, more than 35,000 children and young people as well as more than 4,000 adults have already taken advantage of various offers from Tanz ist KLASSE! and have thus been able to take a piece of European cultural history with them into their everyday lives.

WORKSHOPS

In workshops, former dancers of the Staatsballett Berlin give kindergarden groups, school classes or families a glimpse behind the scenes and accompany the participants in their first dance steps. In addition, young hobby dancers aged 15 and over are given the opportunity to study not only professional training but also original choreographies of current repertoire pieces in the »TanzTanz« workshop on four dates during the season under the direction of dance teachers of the Staatsballett Berlin. A classical and a modern workshop will be offered on all dates.

»TanzTanz« will take place in the 2020/2021 season on the following dates: 25 October 2020, 24 January, 11 April and 20 June 2021.

FAMILY WORKSHOPS

Before all designated family performances of the Staatsballett Berlin, TANZ IST KLASSE! offers introductions to the productions. In these one-hour workshops, the participants together with the dance pedagogues get to know not only the plot but also important figures of the piece and dance short sequences to the original music themselves. The family workshops take place in the respective opera house of the subsequent performance.

Family workshops will be offered for the following performances in the 2020/2021 season: SWAN LAKE (29 August and 12 September 2020), SLEEPING BEAUTY (23 October 2020, 24 May and 17 June 2021), ONEGIN (23 December 2020, 20 March 2021), THE NUTCRACKER (30 December 2020), EKMAN | EYAL (23 January 2021), DAWSON | MCGREGOR (24 April 2021).

COURSE OFFER

For those who want to dance regularly, Tanz ist KLASSE! offers a continuous range of courses – for children from 3 years of age in Creative Children's Dance, for older children from 6 years of age in the form of regular ballet lessons according to the method of the Royal Academy of Dance, RAD®.

PARTNERSHIPS

The aim of Tanz ist KLASSE! e.V. is to integrate the art form of dance into the everyday lives of as many children and young people as possible, regardless of social class or cultural background. This is why there are many years of cooperation between Tanz ist KLASSE! and several schools from all over Berlin, in which school classes receive regular dance lessons under the guidance of trained dance teachers from Tanz ist KLASSE!

Within the framework of TUSCH (theatre and school), Tanz ist KLASSE! is starting a three-year cooperation with the Dunant-Grundschule in the school year 2017/2018, in which 25 children are taught dance every week. The association also cooperates with schools in various Berlin districts, including the Ernst Schering School, the Erika Mann Primary School, the Pettenkofer Primary School, the Nürtingen Primary School, the Lemgo Primary School, the Kita Multilingua and the Kita Fredermäuse as well as the hospital school ›Schule am Grünen Grund‹, a school for socially, emotionally and psychologically disturbed children who are gently taught dance.

ENGAGEMENT IN REFUGEE WORK

Since autumn 2015, two dance teachers from Tanz ist KLASSE! have been visiting emergency shelters for refugees once a week to dance with several groups of children and young people on site. Through this work, the children learn new forms of expression through play, train their German language skills and gain insights into a large cultural institution. The result is an illustrated book entitled DANCE by photographer Daniel Sonnentag, who has been photographing the cooperation for several years.

MANAGEMENT

CHAIRMAN Klaus Siegers DEPUTY CHAIRMAN Dr. Michael Gropp DIRECTOR Dr. Christiane Theobald TREASURER Klaus Grünke

OFFICE

HEAD Alexandra van Veldhoven [email protected] COORDINATION Henriette Köpke [email protected]

CONTACT Tanz ist KLASSE! e.V. c/o Staatsballett Berlin Richard-Wagner-Straße 10 10585 Berlin Phone +49 (0)30 34 384 166 Fax + 49 (0)30 34 384 141 [email protected] www.tanz-ist-klasse.de

BANK Weberbank Actiengesellschaft IBAN DE94 1012 0100 6200 0000 00 00 BIC WELADED1WBB

FRIENDS AND SPONSORS OF THE STAATSBALLETT BERLIN

After the foundation of the Staatsballett Berlin under the auspices of the Stiftung Oper in Berlin in 2004, the »Verein der Freunde und Förderer des Staatsballets Berlin« was founded by dedicated individuals in order to support the ballet company in its efforts, both ideologically and financially. Its commitment is based on the idea to further develop the art of ballet and dance. Therefore the »Freundeskreis« have made it their mission to raise awareness, understanding and interest in ballet and dance, and to strengthen the recognition and significance of the Staatsballett Berlin nationally and internationally.

The members of the ›Freundeskreis‹ feel close to the Staatballett Berlin and are committed to its further development in a variety of ways. As advocates and multipliers, they have made it their task to open up new perspectives for the company and to mediate valuable alliances as a reliable network.

The resting room, which was set up especially to support the resting phases of the dancers of the Staatsballett Berlin, as well as the kinesis wall for prevention or rehabilitation after injuries, were financed by the »Freunde und Förderer des Staatsballets Berlin«. In addition, for many years the association has borne the costs of the Staatsballett Berlin's publications. Since 2017, the ›Freundeskreis‹ has deepened its commitment in the field of health management and enabled the initiation of a health department. This support will be continued in the future.

In return and as thanks for their commitment, the members enjoy various advantages. Depending on their membership status, as friends, sponsors or patrons, they receive exclusive insights behind the scenes. They are invited to rehearsals or are given the opportunity to attend the daily training of the dancers. The artistic director of the Staatsballett Berlin personally presents the program of the new season to the members and they get in contact with members of the company in regular discussions with the artists.

CHAIRWOMAN Vera Gäde-Butzlaff DEPUTY CHAIRWOMAN Dr. Christiane Theobald MANAGING DIRECTOR Erhard Reiber TREASURER Dr. Lothar Kramm

FOUNDATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 26 June 2004

OFFICE

COORDINATION Alexandra van Veldhoven [email protected]

CONTACT Friends and Sponsors of the Staatsballett Berlin e.V. c/o Staatsballett Berlin Richard-Wagner-Straße 10 10585 Berlin Phone +49 (0)30 34 384 169 Fax + 49 (0)30 34 384 165 [email protected] www.staatsballett-berlin.de/freunde

YOUNG BALLET AMBASSADORS

You are between 17 and 27 years old, love ballet and would like to volunteer? Then apply as a BallettBotschafter*in!

Become part of the largest ballet company in Germany, gain insights into the organisational processes of a cultural institution, get to know the dancers behind the scenes and meet like-minded people!

As a ballet ambassador you will help with the implementation of marketing measures as well as with events such as premieres and auditions or you will answer questions from the audience before the performances and during the breaks at one of our information stands. Visits to performances and training sessions, joint excursions and the exchange of experiences round off your participation in our volunteer programme.

Have we sparked your interest? Then apply as a ballet ambassador at [email protected].