ELEMENTS

ELEMENTS

PREMIERES BY MAURO BIGONZETTI, SHARON EYAL, ANDONIS FONIADAKIS, LOUISE LECAVALIER

The new production by Gauthier Dance promises nothing less than an elemental experience - for the company itself as well as for the audience. And because Eric Gauthier has always had a soft spot for number games, this concept evening is also dominated by a number, four. Even the premiere took place on a day that only comes around every four years: 29 February 2024. Above all, however, this program brings together four artists who are as stylistically diverse as the four basic substances of all things:

Mauro Bigonzetti, SPIGHE

No one has collaborated with Gauthier Dance as often as the great dance aesthete from Italy. His pieces have been an integral part of the Theaterhaus Company's repertoire since the first season. Anyone familiar with Bigonzetti's work will not be surprised which element Eric Gauthier has chosen for him: Earth. After all, the native Roman finds the inspiration for it right on his doorstep - in the village in the Marche region where he has since put down roots. Time and time again, he is preoccupied with the power of nature. Mauro Bigonzetti has called his piece for ELEMENTS SPIGHE - ears of corn. A fitting title for a choreography that translates the nourishing mother earth into dance.

Sharon Eyal, ALONE

The first piece she created especially for Gauthier Dance was a quiet bang - her deceptively elegant yet devious pas de trois for The Seven Sins. What was still smouldering beneath the surface in Point is now on fire. For what other element would be more appropriate to the successful choreographer than ... fire? After the deadly sin of envy, Sharon Eyal returns to the large cast for which she became famous in ELEMENTS. Eyal's incredibly focused, meticulous working process regularly produces group pieces that have an almost hypnotic effect and shape the dancers into a single, breathing organism. As precise, rhythmic and relentless as clockwork. As powerful and unstoppable as a sea of flames.

Andonis Foniadakis, ALMYRA

Is it because he grew up on the island of Crete and has been familiar with the water since childhood? One thing is for sure: this choreographer can flow. No one before him has staged dancers so softly, so organically, so flexibly. Few before him have challenged them so much at the same time. The rapid changes and complicated figures make Foniadakis' pieces notoriously difficult to dance. ALMYRA now raises the demands on the dancers to an astonishing new level. The company's answer: top dance performance.

Louise Lecavalier, ETHER

She is the icon of contemporary dance from Canada. Eric Gauthier has admired the legendary front woman of Édouard Lock's company La La La Human Steps ever since he was at ballet school in Toronto. The punk, physical strength and incredible speed she brought to dance had never been seen before, least of all from a woman. She has retained her non-conformity and wildness to this day. No wonder, then, that she has adopted the element of air. Or would it be better to say storm in her case? Either way, her contribution to Gauthier Dance is shaking things up. Louise Lecavalier's world premiere is a premiere in two respects: instead of choreographing herself, she has created a piece for another company for the first time. Her new solo is partly based on So Blue - her choreographic debut from 2012, which evoked water in its title. With ETHER, she is broadening her horizons once again. Because for Louise Lecavalier, the ether as the cosmic "element of elements" embraces them all - fire, water, air and earth.