Sacre du Printemps | Het Nationale Ballet, Holland Festival

The Dutch National Ballet’s contribution to the Holland Festival 2013 consists of two world premieres by two contemporary choreographers who are counted among the most important of their generation: Shen Wei and David Dawson.

Shen Wei, originally from China and known for his impressive contribution to the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, is creating a work for a Dutch company for the first time. The Englishman David Dawson, who has created works for various leading companies in recent years, is renewing his acquaintance with the Dutch National Ballet in an even more intensive collaboration.

The productions by the New York-based Shen Wei are always acclaimed by the international press as breathtaking, powerful and magnetic, due to the original movement idiom and the incredibly beautiful images created by the Chinese choreographer. Ted Brandsen, artistic director of the Dutch National Ballet, already invited him to make a work for the company a few years ago, so he is very happy that this collaboration is now becoming a reality. “Shen Wei combines Chinese calligraphy with modern dance and has thus developed a completely unique visual idiom, which nevertheless appeals to a wide audience”. Wei will present a new Sacre du Printemps to the music of Strawinsky's famous composition Le Sacre du Printemps.

Brandsen is also happy that former resident choreographer David Dawson will regularly be creating new work for the Dutch National Ballet in the coming years. Dawson, who is currently working as a freelance choreographer from his base in Berlin, has recently choreographed some remarkable works for English National Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet and the Mariinsky (formerly Kirov) Ballet. Last year, he created the overwhelming timelapse/(Mnemosyne)and Day4 for the Dutch National Ballet. Though Dawson’s work is based on classical ballet technique, the British choreographer interprets it in a very personal, modern-poetic way.

PERFORMANCES SCHEDULE

SAT   15 jun   20:15

SUN  16 jun   14:00

TUE   18 jun   20:15

WED  19 jun  20:15

FRI     21 jun  20:15

SAT   22 jun  20:15

Tickets