FOLLOWING A BIRD – TRIBUTE TO EZIO BOSSO
by Yaroslav Ivanenko
Choreography: Yaroslav Ivanenko
Music: Ezio Bosso, Kimmo Pojohnen, Max Richter
Scenography: Yaroslav Ivanenko, Marie Rosenbusch
Costumes: Min Li
World premiere: 30 March 2019, Ballett Kiel
Yaroslav Ivanenko’s ballet Following a Bird is inspired by the exceptional Italian musician Ezio Bosso and, above all, brings to the stage the profound emotion of his music. To this end, Ivanenko has combined compositions by Bosso with works by Max Richter and Kimmo Pohjonen, two contemporary composers with equally compelling music. The title of the choreography, Following a Bird, refers to the piano piece of the same name that Bosso composed after being diagnosed with an incurable disease, and which he played before almost all his concerts until his death, as a symbol of the return of his creative power.
‘I wanted to translate the images and moods that music can evoke into dance. Music touches our inner selves and evokes memories and associations. These can be memories of friends and people who are very close to us. Even if these people are no longer with us, they always come to mind in this way. Or moments in our lives when we felt something so beautiful that we will never forget it. The choreography is about these things that touch us.’ (Yaroslav Ivanenko)
WALKING MAD
by Johan Inger
Choreography and set design: Johan Inger
Music: Maurice Ravel, Arvo Pärt
World premiere: 17 May 2001, Nederlands Dans Theater
In Walking Mad by Swedish choreographer Johan Inger, an initially cheerful relationship drama unfolds to the sounds of Maurice Ravel’s Bolero and Arvo Pärt’s For Alina, describing the adventures of three women, their relationships with themselves and with the men in their lives. The only prop is a large wooden wall, which is surprisingly changeable. Walking Mad was first performed by the Nederlands Dans Theater in 2001 and has since been staged in many renowned theatres. Inger herself danced for many years at the Nederlands Dans Theater, then went on to direct the Swedish Cullberg Ballet and now works as a freelance choreographer for many companies all over the world.
‘Ravel’s famous Boléro, with its sexual and almost kitsch story, was the trigger that pushed me to make my own version of it. I immediately realised that it had to talk about relationships in different forms and circumstances. I had the idea of a wall that could transform the space during this minimalist music and create small spatial and situational islands. Walking Mad it is a journey in which we encounter our fears, our desires and the lightness of being’. (Johan Inger)
BALLET KIEL
In the spring of 2011, Yaroslav Ivanenko and his partner Heather Jurgensen took over the management of the Ballett Kiel. Ivanenko, who had been a dancer with the Hamburg Ballet under John Neumeier for many years, has since led the young company of 20 members as Ballet Director and Chief Choreographer. Heather Jurgensen, first soloist with John Neumeier until 2008, accompanies the ensemble as Maître de Ballet and Vice-Director.
Ivanenko’s first creations, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters, were enthusiastically received by the public. The ensemble’s versatility and Ivanenko’s creativity have made possible a considerable number of world premieres, which in their diversity share a desire to experiment with the vocabulary of the neoclassical movement. In this way, Ivanenko repeatedly engages with new artistic partners, from whom he takes and develops impulses. Recently, dance evenings such as Flight of Fancy and The Fleeting Moment have continued this series of world premieres, and with A Midsummer Night’s Dream Ivanenko has once again transformed a piece of world literature into dance.
Ivanenko’s reinterpretations of great classical ballets such as Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet have earned him much praise and applause from critics and audiences alike, and are a prime example of his choreographic language, which combines subtle and playful elements with dynamic and acrobatic ones. In 2015/16, Ivanenko completed Tchaikovsky’s cycle with The Sleeping Beauty and in 2018/19 he also brought Prokofiev’s second great ballet, Cinderella, to the Kiel stage. Other ballet classics in the repertoire are La Sylphide, Coppélia and Giselle.
The ensemble has also attracted the attention of other choreographers and in recent years the Kiel Ballet has worked with among others, with Lucinda Childs, Marguerite Donlon, Natalia Horecna, Georg Reischl, Darrel Toulon, Orkan Dann, Vivienne Hötger, Trey McIntyre, Antoine Jully, Wubkje Kuindersma, Johan Inger, Edvin Revazov and Kristina Paulin. Ballett Kiel is currently presenting an evening of dance with choreography by George Balanchine and Douglas Lee.
YAROSLAV IVANENKO
Yaroslav Ivanenko trained at the National Conservatory of Arts in Kiev and, after graduating, was hired by the National Theatre. This was followed by engagements in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In 1998, Ivanenko joined the Hamburg Ballet, where he appeared in numerous solo roles until 2010. Since the 2011/12 opera season he has been ballet director and chief choreographer of the Ballett Kiel. In recent years he has developed a varied repertoire with this ensemble and has developed his own unmistakable style, characterised by athletic dynamism and neoclassical elegance. In addition to full-length narrative ballets based on literary material, such as the most recent, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and new productions of classical ballets, such as Swan Lake, he has also repeatedly created choreographies for modern dance evenings.
YOHAN INGER
The Swede Johan Inger was a dancer with the Nederlands Dans Theater 1 from 1990 to 2002. After his debut as a choreographer in 1995, his rise was rapid: he received the Lucas Hoving Production Award for his ballets Dream Play and Walking Mad in 2001 and the Danza & Danza Award for Walking Mad in 2005. In 2003, Inger took over as artistic director of the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm. Since 2008 he has been working as a freelance choreographer for companies all over the world, including Göteborgs Operan, Ballet Basel, Swedish National Ballet, Compañía Nacional de Danza, Aterballetto, Lyon Opera Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo and, of course, Nederlands Dans Theater, where he was associate choreographer from 2009 to 2016. In 2016 he received the Benois de la Danse award for Carmen and One on One, as well as the Danza & Danza award for Bliss and in 2020 for Don Juan as best Italian production. From 2022, Inger is also the artistic director of Take Off Dance, a training programme for aspiring professional dancers in Seville.
‘I have never seen such an impressive opera house as the Teatro Carlo Felice, even though I have already danced in many places around the world. I am therefore very happy that we have the opportunity to perform there together with other fantastic guests’. (Yaroslav Ivanenko)
