Classics

In the organizer's words:

With Classics, the Semperoper Ballett presents a program that brings together three dance creations that have become prime examples of their respective creators:

The program opens with Serenade (1935) - George Balanchine's first creation on US soil: When the dancers in floor-length light blue tulle dresses lift off to dance in strict geometry to Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings", the choreography breathes the atmosphere of the "white acts" of classical story ballets and opens up the space to abstract neoclassical ballet and new forms of expression.

This is followed by Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes by American choreographer Justin Peck, who is a guest at the Semperoper with his work from 2015. With this work, Peck takes up the famous Americana theme of the US composer Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), whose cowboy ballet "Rodeo" (1942) is one of his best-known works. Peck created a humorous, lively dance piece for 16 dancers based on this score. The US choreographer Twyla Tharp will also premiere her work In The Upper Room (1986), which is now a repertoire favorite of numerous ballet companies worldwide. To Philip Glass' commissioned composition, the company once again demonstrates its enormous body control by performing a variety of physical techniques such as boxing, yoga and tap dance in addition to ballet, rounding off the ballet evening in this varied way.