Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Verklärte Nacht
© Verklärte Nacht © Anne Van Aerschot ©
Choreography, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Music, Arnold Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht, op. 4
With (alternately) Boštjan Antončič, Mark Lorimer, Igor Shyshko, Samantha van Wissen
Lighting, Luc Schaltin, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Costumes, Rosas / Rudy Sabounghi
Musical dramaturgy, Georges-Elie Octors, Alain Franco
A Rosas production
A coproduction with Ruhrtriennale – Festival der Künste ; and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg
In association with Théâtre de la Ville-Paris ; and Festival d’Automne à Paris
First performed on 16 August 2014 as part of the Ruhrtriennale – Festival der Künste
The Fondation d’entreprise Hermès is the patron for the Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Portrait.
In partnership with France Inter.
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s body of work comprises little in the way of incursions into the latter Romantic repertory. Arnold Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night is one of its pillars. Devised in 1995 for an ensemble, this reconstruction is derived from a process of reduction, concentrating the poem’s dramatic structure in a passionate duo from which the narrative lines and expressive modulations emerge.
Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) is a string composition by Arnold Schoenberg dating back to the end of the Romantic era (1899). Schoenberg took his inspiration from a poem by Richard Dehmel about a woman who tells her husband that she is carrying the baby of another man. The poem’s tragic tone finds its echo in the persistence of the chords. The emotional drive of the piece switches between deep passion and the subtlety of a timid voice, in apparent empathy with the protagonist’s suffering. The original choreography was conceived as an ensemble piece in 1995, in conjunction with a special event dedicated to Arnold Schoenberg at the Opéra de Bruxelles De Munt / La Monnaie. The piece was then rewritten for a duo, bringing its narrative and musical aspects to the forefront. The expressive crescendos and diminuendos guide us through the dramatic events, echoing the constantly modulating flow of emotions. What emerges is an uninhibited love story, illuminated by the pale light of a transfigured night.
Running time: 50 min.
See also
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Radouan Mriziga / Rosas, A7LA5 Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione
In collaboration with the choreographer and dancer Radouan Mriziga, the challenge taken up by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker is to make Vivaldi's Four Seasons heard, using the tools of dance to hone the way we listen to this baroque masterpiece. Under the auspices of abstraction, the resulting alliance reconnects with the imaginary ecological world that is conjured up by this famous concerto.
Rabih Mroué, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker A little bit of the moon
As part of a special invitation by the Festival d'Automne, choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and director Rabih Mroué shared, over the course of ten months, their thoughts, concerns, doubts, and questions regarding politics, art and life. After numerous exchanges by videoconference, the two artists now come together on the site of the former industrial complex, the new home of the Fiminco Foundation. Together, for the duration of a performance, they will be drawing up the plans for a new world for all.