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Aaron S. Watkin & Arielle Smith – NUTCRAKER

December 12th, 2024 – January 12th, 2025 London Coliseum, London
2 hours incl. one interval

A New Interpretation of the Classic Ballet

© ASH

The whole thing feels familiar but fresh,
colourful but still classy,
sweet but not sickly.

Lyndsey Winship

This festive season, join Clara on a fantastical adventure where anything is possible. Embark on a journey full of colour and wonder as English National Ballet brings Nutcracker to life with over 100 dancers and musicians.

It’s Christmas Eve in Edwardian London. Clara and her mother are shopping at Drosselmeyer’s Sweets & Delights Emporium where she meets an enchanted Nutcracker doll. They take home liquorice all-sorts, nougat, marzipan and of course, sugarplums, to delight their party guests. As music and laughter fill the house, Clara has a magical sugar plum vision, sparking an adventure in which she bravely defends her home from the Rat King before discovering a dazzling ice realm and its Queen. Step out of the ordinary and follow Clara as she travels to the Land of Sweets & Delights where the Sugar Plum Fairy has arranged a grand celebration in her honour.

Choreographed by English National Ballet’s Artistic Director, Aaron S. Watkin, and Olivier Award-winner Arielle Smith, this new interpretation of the classic festive ballet combines exquisite dancing with spectacular sets and costumes designed by Dick Bird. English National Ballet Philharmonic perform Tchaikovsky’s iconic score live.

From the orchestra warming up, to the final bows and applause, English National Ballet’s new Nutcracker is an unforgettable treat for audiences of all ages.

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TNUA to restage Pina Bausch

December 20th – 22nd, 2024 Taipei Performing Arts Center, Taipei
December 27th – 29th, 2024 NPAC Weiwuying, Kaohsiung
January 3rd – 5th, 2025 National Taichung Theater, Taichung
35 minutes

The First Asian Version
of A Western Masterpiece

© 黎宇文

The School of Dance of Tapei National University of the Arts (TNUA) is staging Pina Bausch’s classic work, The Rite of Spring, for its fall production in Taiwan – the first Asian reproduction authorized by the Pina Bausch Foundation.

The reproduction, a highlight of this year’s Kuandu Arts Festival, will take the dance to Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung for a total of nine performances running from December 2024 till January 2025.

Made possible after two years of planning by the School of Dance, the restaging of the legendary choreographer’s work will feature TNUA alumnus Yu Tsai-Chin, a dancer from Wuppertal Tanztheater, together with four other dancers who received training under Bausch.

The restaging of The Rite of Spring marks the international recognition of Taiwan’s higher education in dance, particularly the heights that the TNUA School of Dance has reached.

Bausch’s The Rite of Spring premiered in 1975, and has since become a classic in the world of dance.

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Ingrid Berger Myhre – Spelling Spectacle

December 17th – 18th, 2024 Kaaitheater, Brussels
December 21st, 2024 Theater Rotterdam, Rotterdam
65 minutes

A Game of Three Performers

© Tale Hendnes

With each move, they peek into the immediate future, attempting to avoid the pitfalls of individual whims and stringent collectivism. By being loyal to the game rules, they risk steering into walls, hopelessly going in circles, missing their marks. By being loyal to their individual ideas, they risk sabotaging the collective effort. This productive dilemma drives the work forward.

The goal is to build the piece in real-time. Everything becomes material, as movement trajectories are woven thanks to coincidence and careful considerations. And as the map is drawn, the mysteries unfold.

Every next frame is the result of a previous stepping stone. 

Each stone carries the baggage of the ones before. 

In con-sequence, they spell out both the obvious and the magical:

The next step, the next room, the next door- continuously leaving one space to make another appear.

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Rudolf Nureyev – The Nutcraker

December 18th, 2024 – January 12th, 2025 Teatro alla Scala, Milan
approx. 130 minutes (intermission included)

Christmas Classic in Milan

© Teatro alla Scala

The new Season opens with the reprise of a much loved Christmas classic that has enchanted La Scala since 1969: The Nutcracker, with Rudolf Nureyev’s choreography and the historic staging of Nicholas Georgiadis. From the children’s dances to the family’s Christmas celebrations, from the battle of the mice and toy soldiers to the brilliance of the snowflakes, the music and dance combine beautifully in the choreographic designs of the famous waltzes and pas de deux, rich of technique, rigour, lines and balance, which reveal the dramaturgical approach that Nureyev wanted to give at this ballet: between shadows and light, the journey of an adolescent girl, Clara’s dream.

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Compagnie 111  / Aurélien Bory – invisibili

January 30th – 31st, 2025 Scène nationale d’Orléans, Orléans
February 18th – 19th, 2025 Montpellier Danse, Montpellier
April 2nd – 3rd, 2025 Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
70 minutes

Anthem to Life

© Rosellina Garbo

With his Compagnie 111, choreographer and director Aurélien Bory has carved a path as a visionary of spatial poetry and a virtuoso of stagecraft, receiving international acclaim for his mastery in blending diverse performance languages. His 2023 work invisibili is inspired by his encounter with the city of Palermo and The Triumph of Death, an anonymous fresco from the 15th century, in which death strikes everyone without distinction of class, rank, age, or gender. In Bory’s hands, the monumental mural becomes a mesmerising backdrop, wondrously integrated in a profound dialogue with the dancers on stage, where narratives of contemporary relevance, including the plight of migrants and the challenges of illness, take place. Far from being a macabre dance of death, invisibili offers a captivating anthem to life.

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Michael Keegan-Dolan – MÁM

December 4th – 7th, 2024 Théâtre de la Ville, Paris
December 10th, 2024 Espace des Arts, Chalon-sur-Saône
December 14th, 2024 Festpielhaus, St. Pölten
December 17th – 18th, 2024 Théatre Senart Scéne Nationale, Melun
90 minutes

A Fresh Breeze from Ireland

© Teaċ Daṁsa

Bringing together the virtuoso, Irish traditional concertina player Cormac Begley, the European classical, contemporary collective, s t a r g a z e and twelve international dancers from the Teaċ Daṁsa company, MÁM is a meeting place between soloist and ensemble, classical and traditional, the local and universal.

Following the success of his acclaimed re-imagining of the world-famous ballet, Swan Lake/Loch na hEala (2016) Michael Keegan-Dolan and Teaċ Daṁsa have created another mythic yet timely production that acknowledges how life’s polarities can on occasion come together and find resolution.

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Kyle Abraham – Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful

December 3rd – 14th, 2024 Park Avenue Armory, New York
Duration: unknown

The Big Thing in NYC

© Giocarlo Valentine

MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham is one of the most sought after choreographers and dancers of our time, creating a unique and expressive style of dance that explores issues of identity, history, and geography. In addition to performing and developing new works for his company A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, the bold creator has been commissioned by a variety of dance companies including New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Royal Ballet, and The National Ballet of Cuba. He has also choreographed for many of the leading dancers of our time, including Misty Copeland, Calvin Royal III, and Wendy Whelan. He unleashes his signature style—a unique blend of modern dance techniques ranging from ballet to hip hop—in the world premiere of a new evening-length work.

Featuring a large ensemble of dancers with whom he has collaborated from across the country, plus Abraham himself, this Armory commission includes an innovative visual design created by Cao Yuxi (JAMES) and an Armory-commissioned score composed and performed live by the critically acclaimed new music ensemble yMusic to explore the growing sensitivities of life and transition, and nature and humanity, in our chaotic world. The underlying choreography employs layers of counterpoint to find intimacy and evoke ideas of empathy and constant change, fueling an evocative new dance work that migrates through the fragility of time and an ever-changing ecology.

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Marco da Silva Ferreira & João Pais Filipe – Terra Cobre

December 14th, 2024 Concertgebouw Bruges, Bruges
February 28th – March 1st, 2025 Le Quartz, Brest
50 minutes

Sound, Noise and Silence

© Bruno Simao

Cowbells were declared an Urgent Heritage Safeguard by UNESCO in 2015. In Terra Cobre, the artists challenge traditional Portuguese iconography and symbolism, placing it in an exploratory and sensory context.

The work consists of a sculptural and sonic installation and a 50-minute performance, performed by Marco and João at the beginning or end of the installation. The installation serves as a backdrop for the performance and contributes to the atmospheric and performative narrative.

Marco and João, collaborating for CARCAÇA , explore concepts of identity, culture and society; reinterpreting ancient cultural heritage and challenging established conventions. They use cowbells to create a sculptural, sonic and physical composition that depicts a landscape full of memories where shepherds and animals come together.

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Yabin Wang – Journey to the West

December 8th, 2024 Gare du Midi, Biarritz
December 10th, 2024 Le Théâtre Olympia, Arcachon
December 14th, 2024 Le Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes
85 minutes

Yabin Wang Is Back to France with Her Latest Creation

© Tasu

Yabin Wang first traveled the world as a dancer before becoming a prolific choreographer, subtly blending various styles of traditional Chinese dance with contemporary dance techniques.

For Journey to the West, which draws its inspiration from a great classic of Chinese literature, she collaborated with French composer Laurent Petitgirard, whose symphonic music inspired her to create a journey with cinematic aspects of breathtaking beauty.

At the crossroads of East and West, the choreographer breaks boundaries through the language of the body to capture the essence of the original work: a quest for spirituality.

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Abou Lagraa – Carmen

November 30th – Dec. 1st, 2024 Forum am Schlosspark, Ludwigsburg
January 25th – 26th, 2025 Théâtre Suresnes Jean Vilar, Suresnes
January 28th, 2025 Théâtre Alexandre Dumas, Saint-Germain-en-Laye
January 30th, 2025 Le Manège Maubeuge, Maubeuge
February 2nd, 2025 Scènes & Cinés, Istres
February 4th, 2025 Grand Théâtre de Provence, Aix-en-Provence
February 7th, 2025 Le Carré, Sainte-Maxime
February 11th, 2025 Romans Scènes, Roman-sur-Isère
February 15th, 2025 Théâtre de Roanne, Roanne
February 18th – 21st, 2025 Maison de la Danse, Lyon
90 minutes

Carmen by
Tunis Opera Ballet

© David Bonnet

Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” is one of the most famous operas in the world. Still, in Tunisia, it was shown for the very first time in February 2024 – and then as a choreographic opera with the ballet ensemble at the Tunis Opera House. Abou Lagraa, the choreographer, has been working with North African artists for many years. As the child of Algerian and Egyptian parents, his dance roots are, for once, not in hip-hop, but in contemporary dance, including with S.O.A.P., Rui Horta’s legendary Frankfurt company.

In order to find his emotions that underlie the famous arias, Lagraa opted for a sparse, almost minimalist production. For him, the title character not only represents the idolized, teasing seductress, but above all freedom until death. Carmen is the romantic concept of an emancipated woman – a woman who poses a danger to men. Lagraa’s interpretation of the plot draws on the oriental perspective of the story. He deliberately portrays a Carmen of the nomads, the Berbers, and ancient North African people. The choreography oscillates in wave movements, reminiscent of the power of the Mediterranean Sea that unites the Maghreb and Europe.

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