Choreographer

“Absolute joy”. “First time I’ve danced in my seat at the ballet!”. “I will carry the bounce in my step and smile on my face for a long time”. “The minute it ended I wanted it to start again”. In 2022, William Forsythe’s Playlist (EP) brought the house down.

The Forsythe Programme

Sadler's Wells Theatre

Forsythe is a legendary choreographer, revered worldwide as one of the most creative innovators of the ballet tradition. Since the 1970s, he has revolutionised dance by intelligently developing academic ballet in a way that frees the human body from its predetermined corset and broadens choreographic expression in unprecedented ways. Many of William Forsythe’s virtuoso compositions have long become modern classics. In this homage, the Staatsballett will perform three groundbreaking pieces by the American choreographer. Approximate Sonata 2016 is a series of pas de deux, offering the performers the opportunity to mutually craft finely differentiated nuances within a choreographic structure whose forms are frequently difficult to sustain. The performers have a balanced agency in determining the dynamic outcome of these forms, striving to accommodate the choices the other is making in order to advance each other’s intentions. For all the hazardous torrent of dancers moving relentlessly around metal tables, One Flat Thing, reproduced (2000) is actually a purposeful chapter in ongoing research into the visual distribution of contrapuntal balletic structure. The work is set up as a linked ‹machinery› that is created through the interaction of three systems of organization: numerous individual movement themes, a dense system of distributed cueing and complex alignments of forms and/or movement flow. Although the dancer’s field of action is seriously delimited, the unyielding maze of tables also offers the unusual possibility of composing interrelated action on three levels. Blake Works I , staged for the Paris Opera Ballet in 2016, was the first work created in the classical idiom after a hiatus from ballet of more than 17 years. The work deploys a distinctly historical approach to the genre, versus the analytical approach used in a majority of the previous ballet oriented works. Blake Works I  radiates an affection for the language of ballet, and even revives several iconic fragments from works of the genre’s great practitioners that had been deeply influential during formative years. The work’s vocabulary is grounded in the French school and makes use of several of the demanding intricacies of that particular style.

William Forsythe

Deutsche Oper Berlin

From their mid-thirties to their early nineties: the four choreographers in Generation Dance vary considerably in age, but what unites them is that, each in their own way, they exuberantly celebrate the power of dance. The youngest, rising star Rena Butler makes her Dutch debut in this program, in combination with two recent hit productions by Ted Brandsen and William Forsythe and an 'all-time favorite' by Hans van Manen.

Generation Dance

National Opera & Ballet

New York City Ballet continually invests in works by new generations of choreographers. Pam Tanowitz’s Law of Mosaics, set to Ted Hearne’s score, combines moments of resonant silence with propulsive string-based music, and is further illuminated by the colorful costumes of Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung. Despite its simplicity, This Bitter Earth, a pas de deux danced to a remix of Dinah Washington’s recording of the title song, ranks among Christopher Wheeldon’s most delicate and moving works. For many followers of the Company, William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman Pas de Deux remains a totemic example of the adventurousness that Balanchine always championed and exemplified. The Company’s ongoing interest in a wide variety of music and the dancing it inspires is illustrated in Kyle Abraham’s Love Letter (on shuffle), which draws on the pop music of singer-songwriter James Blake and combines classical steps with a distinctly 21st-century aesthetic.

EPSG:4326

Contemporary Choreography II

Lincoln Center

Passion, love, and death! From the moody love songs of singer/songwriter James Blake, to the sizzling strains of the electric violin, to one of the most profound pieces of dancer theater ever created, these dances will take you on an unforgettable journey through love and war.

Love and War

Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre

In an inspiring season that celebrates both newly named Artistic Director Robert Garland and the 90th birthday of the Company’s legendary founder Arthur Mitchell, Dance Theatre of Harlem reaffirms that the future of ballet is in Harlem. Honoring Mitchell’s legacy and ushering in the next generation of his vision, this festival-style weekend of performances features audience favorites and new repertory alike.

Dance Theatre of Harlem

New York City Center

For the first time since 2020, Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT 1) brings its rigor, artistry, and unforgettable stagecraft back to City Center with a season of premiere works. Legendary choreographer William Forsythe expands his quartet N.N.N.N. into a sinuous, sprawling new piece for 12 dancers that explores the linkages and breaking points of bodies in motion.

Ndt 1

Three short works that highlight the brilliant range of possibilities blossoming from ballet’s vocabulary. A love letter to Bach, Helgi Tomasson’s poetic 7 for Eight, is elegant and nuanced, with an undercurrent of deep emotion flowing through excerpts from seven keyboard concertos for eight dancers. Myles Thatcher’s COLORFORMS, the break-out hit of the 2021 Digital Season that was filmed during the pandemic at SFMOMA and Golden Gate Park, finally has its stage debut! William Forsythe’s Blake Works I, set to songs from James Blake’s album The Colour in Anything, starts with ballet’s precision, speeds it up, pushes it to the limit of physicality, then refracts it like a kaleidoscope as 21 dancers are driven by pop music and joy.

Program 5

War Memorial Opera House

The season's mixed repertory program opens with Helgi Tomasson's 7 for Eight from 2004, a series of elegant solo and ensemble numbers for eight dancers and set to portions of four of Bach's keyboard concertos. 7 for Eight includes black-on-black costume designs by Sandra Woodall and lighting designs by David Finn.

The Colors Of Dance

Now a singular presence in the ballet world, celebrating more than 50 years together, the Dance Theatre of Harlem Company tours nationally and internationally, presenting a powerful vision for ballet in the 21st century. The 17-member, multi-ethnic company performs a forward-thinking repertoire that includes treasured classics, neoclassical works as well as innovative contemporary works that use the language of ballet to celebrate African American culture. In their Austin debut, the acclaimed company will perform an all-new program featuring new choreography from Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Robert Garland, and William Forsythe and music by Stevie Wonder, James Blake, Les Yuex Noirs, and more.

Bass Concert Hall

Whether the word “wave” reminds us of a beach by the sea, the radio or a football stadium – the idea of ​​energy is always in there somewhere. An energy that looks for its path and awakens the impression of liveliness. Waves often spread in circles, going out in all directions from a center point. Waves and circles play a role in a different way in the triple bill ballet program, Waves and Circles – they are extolled, are visible or are tangible.

Waves And Circles

Max-Joseph-Platz

This four-part ballet evening brings together two legendary dance pieces and two world premieres.

The Ballett Zürich has a long-standing relationship with the American choreographer William Forsythe. His «New Suite» from 2012, set to music by Bach, Händel, and Berio, combines eight technically demanding duets from different creative periods, forming a showcase of his work «en miniature». Hans van Manen made dance history in 1979 with his video ballet «Live». Created in the pioneering days of video technology, this piece for two dancers, a pianist, and a cameraman explodes the boundaries of the stage space, revealing itself to be a masterful puzzle game about the mechanisms of perception.

Timeframed

Zurich Opera House

Award-winning New York City Ballet principal dancer, choreographer, actress, author, curator and designer, Tiler Peck returns with her dazzling love letter to dance, Turn It Out with Tiler Peck & Friends.

Choreographer

William Forsythe

Events

Upcoming events

Dec 21, 2025 - Jul 19, 2026

Waves And Circles · Bayerische Staatsoper

Jan 17 - Feb 12, 2026

Timeframed · Opernhaus Zürich

12 - 14 Mar, 2026

Turn It Out with Tiler Peck & Friends · Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Past events

10 - 19 Apr, 2025

The Forsythe Programme · English National Ballet

Jan 24 - Apr 25, 2025

William Forsythe · Deutsche Oper Berlin

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