Aaron S.Watkin, a career that began as a classical soloist in some of the most important dance companies and culminated with a long stint alongside William Forsythe as principal dancer in the Frankfurt Ballett, brings to the Festival stage New Suite, specially created from William Forsythe for the Dresden SemperOper Ballett.

Alessandra Ferri

My dream: to break the boundaries that traditionally divide classical ballet and contemporary dance, redefining dance as the culmination of both.

Aaron S. Watkin

DRESDEN SEMPEROPER BALLETT

Attention to culture is from always the flagship of Baroque Dresden. Carl Maria von Weber is the first to committed to the creation of a stable corps de ballet withinOpera Dresden. An excellence maintained over the years by successive artistic directors: Tom Schilling, Harald Wandtke, Vladimir Derevianko. Aaron S. Watkin, who was appointed artistic director of the Dresden SemperOper Ballett on August 1, 2006, has over time staged a wide range of classical, neoclassical and modern repertoire. The company, consisting from of about 60 dancers and 12 apprentices, puts on more than seventy performances to season on the stage ofOpera Dresden, one of the oldest theaters in the world. The company′s new goals include producing more than 15 new performances, both at alternative venues in Dresden and abroad.

AARON S. WATKIN

Born in Canada, Aaron Sean Watkin graduated from the National Ballet School of Canada. He danced as a soloist with the National Ballet of Canada, English National Ballet, and Dutch National Ballet before being called by choreographer William Forsythe to to fill the role of principal dancer at the Frankfurt Ballett. He has been associate artistic director of the Victor Ullate Ballet in Madrid, assistant choreographer to William Forsythe, Johan Inger, and David Dawson, guest professor and associate artistic director of the Loft Dance Studio in Brussels. Artistic director of the Dresden SemperOper Ballett since August 1, 2006, he has revisited numerous classics including The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.

APOLLO

choreography George Balanchine

© The George Balanchine Trust

music Igor Stravinsky

costume design Yumiko Takeshima

reassembled from Judith Fugate

The Apollonmusagète (created in 1928 and renamed Apollo in 1957) is George Balanchine′s tribute to the myth of Apollo, portrayed in the act of educating the three muses Calliope (poetry), Polyhymnia (mime) and Thersichore (dance). Balanchine′s Apollonmusagète is considered the first example of neoclassical ballet.

NEW SUITE

choreography and lighting conception William Forsythe

costume design William Forsythe, Yumiko Takeshima

Händel

music Georg Friedrich Händel Concerti Grossi Op. 6

reassembled from William Forsythe, Laura Graham

Bach

music Johann Sebastian Bach Allemande from Partita No 1. 1 BBV 1002 in B minor

reassembled from Thierry Guiderdoni

Berio

music Luciano Berio Duetti for two violins vol. 1

reassembled from Thierry Guiderdoni

Slingerland pas de deux

music Gavin Bryars String Quartet No. 1 Between the National and the Bristol

reassembled from Stefanie Arndt

New sleep

music Thom Willems

reassembled from KatherinaMarkowskaya, William Forsythe

New Suite is a pièce composed from a series of duets - rearranged or expressly created from William Forsythe for the Dresden SemperOper Ballett - created in the 1990s for the Forsythe Frankfurt Ballett with the exception of New Sleep, created in 1987 for the San Francisco Ballet. Händel is taken from a 1995 choreography titled Invisible Film; Bach uses material developed for Kammer/Kammer, a largely performative work first performed in 2000 at the Bockenheimer Depot; Berio is based on the first part of Workwithinwork, from 1998; Slingerland Pas de deux, from the 1990 ballet of the same name, plays on the contrast between harmony and tension and the relationship between the male and female genders.

VERTIGO MAZE

choreography Stijn Celis

music Johann Sebastian Bach Chaconne for solo violin and four voices

costume design Kathy Brunner

lighting conception Erik Berglund

reassembled from Lisa Drake

Using the extraordinary score of J.S. Bach′s Chaconne for solo violin and four voices , Belgian choreographer Stijn Celis questions the search for freedom among limitations and the search for a place where harmony can reign.

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