FRENETIC DANCE
contemporary
ballet
Four one-act ballet in three parts
Walking Mad, A tökéletesség szédítő ereje, 5 tangó, Sad Case
The newest contemporary show of Hungary’s only classical ballet company proves that the dancers can master even the impossible. The recently produced works of the most significant choreographers of our time require and discharge immense energy while taking the audience on a rollercoaster ride from the everyday madness, the pushing of the physical boundaries, the unstoppable instincts to fiery Latin-American dances.
WALKING MAD
This production is part of the Frenetic Dance triple bill which is available at the following link
A wall, 3 female and 6 male dancers, and Ravel's Bolero. This is the base of Swedish choreographer Johan Inger's one-act ballet, which he originally created for the Netherlands Dans Theatre in 2001.
The minimalist space takes newer and newer shapes for the ever intensifying music, and newer and newer characters appear in it, in more and more mad situations and states.
"The famous Bolero from Ravel with its sexual, almost kitschy history was the trigger point to make my own version. I quickly decided that it was going to be about relationships in different forms and circumstances. I came up with the idea of a wall that could transform the space during this minimalistic music and create small pockets of space and situations. Walking Mad is a journey in which we encounter our fears, our longings and the lightness of being.
»Our biggest blessings come to us by way of madness« - said Socrates."
Johan Inger
1st girl
2nd girl
3rd girl
1st boy
2nd boy
3rd boy
4th boy
5th boy
6th boy
THE VERTIGINOUS THRILL OF EXACTITUDE
This production is part of the Frenetic Dance triple bill which is available at the following link
Although the works of American ballet dancer and choreographer William Forsythe use classical technique as their starting point, he is capable of thinking them through further, often taking them to the extreme. An example of this is his 11-minute piece The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, created for three female and two male dancers. In it, solos, pas de deux, pas de trois and ensembles alternate, with no plot, to the virtuosic and sublime final movement of Schubert's (“Great”) Ninth Symphony.
The work, which today is already considered one of the most challenging short ballets to perform, pays tribute to classical technique. Joining In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, it is the second of Forsythe's pieces to make it into the Hungarian National Ballet's repertoire.
"Agile, ethereal and precise." (Krisztina Horeczky, Tánckritika.hu)
FIVE TANGOS
This production is part of the Frenetic Dance triple bill which is available at the following link
https://www.opera.hu/hu/musor/megtekint/eszeveszett-tanc-2023/
Five Tangos is one of Hans van Manen’s best known and, deservedly, most popular works: superb music and dance combine to evoke a pulsing metropolis and a world of fiery and passionate instincts. Sometimes sultrily lethargic and other times set to accelerating tempos featuring virtuoso elements, this thrilling work plays with solo and group scenes to reveal the changing games of the individual and the community, the many faces and layers of love and attraction and a portrait of an era.
Female solo
Male solo
SAD CASE
This production is part of the Frenetic Dance triple bill which is available at the following link
“Now in hindsight we realise that energy is everything. When we created Sad Case in 1998, so far in to Sol’s pregnancy, the hormones were jumping and emotions were high. It is these hormones of laughter, madness and the trepidation of the unknown ahead that are the umbilical chord of this work,” says the British Paul Lightfoot, thinking back to the origin of the ballet. He and his partner, the Spanish Sol León share credit for the performance’s choreography and set and costume designs. Up until 2020, León worked as artistic consultant and Lightfoot as artistic director for the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), where they were responsible for bringing about sixty creations, including Sad Case, which is undoubtedly one of the pillars of their work. In it, surprising movements set to Mexican mambo music reflect the ongoing search for the tension between the satirical and the serious. The Opera has long planned the staging of this irresistible modern piece for Hungarian audiences – and by way of it, the art of the world-famous Lightfoot.