CCN - Ballet de Lorraine

German Premiere (Devoted)

It will be a ballet-intensive summer in Hamburg, with the biggest avantgarde dance hits of the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and today. A pleasure for novices and experts.

The Nancy-based CCN - Ballet de Lorraine has dedicated itself to both contemporary dance and the preservation of contemporary ballet heritage. At the Summerfestival, this exceptional ensemble presents its entire range of work and, in a tour de force in three parts, leads viewers through the history of avant-garde choreography. SOUNDDANCE from 1975, is one of Merce Cunningham’s most beautiful pieces. By playfully incorporating mathematics and abstraction, Cunningham rejuvenated American dance. He created the dynamic and humorous piece as an exercise of sorts for his own company. What Cunningham began in New York, William Forsythe continued in Frankfurt. DUO – a virtuoso clockwork piece of choreographic precision – is an example of the ballet deconstructions he created in the 1980s and 1990s. The choreographer duo Cecilia Bengolea and François Chaignaud also attempt to radically reinvent dance, most recently in their newest commissioned work for the CCN - Ballet de Lorraine – to be premiered shortly before the Summerfestival. In DEVOTED, they draw on the beginnings of modern dance in 1900 and bind them with the music of Philip Glass. The evening marks the end of the festival’s exploration of avant-garde choreography that included Lucinda Childs’ AVAILABLE LIGHT and Holzinger/Riebeek’s SCHÖNHEITSABEND.