June 6th – 15th, 2025 Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin
90 minutes
Earlier Piece of Sasha Waltz
Considered one of the key works of modernism, it is a 100 years after the genesis of Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps that Sasha Waltz takes on the Mariinsky Theatre’s offer to engage with this extraordinary piece of musical and dance history. Its title translates to The Rite of Spring. The strikingly archaic, tension-charged and angular composition is characterized by a strongly emphasized rhythm, precipitous drops and a layering of constantly repeating musical motives. Its many almost noise-like dissonances and expressionist sonic impressions have made the work one of the most famous pieces of music of the modern avant-garde.
Earlier large-format pieces of Sasha Waltz’, amongst others Na Zemlje (1998) or Continu (2010), have already showcased elements of her research into rites and group dynamics. With her choreography of Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps, she dedicates an entire piece to these themes, in performances often accompanied by the Scène d’amour from Roméo et Juliette by Hector Berlioz and her choreography L’Après-midi d’un faune to the music of Claude Debussy.