Ballet has always had the power to fuse contradictions — to make the eerie appear elegant, the absurd look graceful, the grotesque feel sublime. With Wunderkammer, the new creation by Marcos Morau — recently named Choreographer of the Year by tanz magazine and current Artist-in-Residence at Staatsballett Berlin — this duality takes center stage.

Inspired by the spirit of cabaret and the raw pulse of Berlin’s club culture, Morau transforms the stage of the Komische Oper Berlin @ Schillertheater into a kaleidoscopic dreamscape. Expect a surreal world where movement meets madness, couture meets chaos, and discipline dissolves into decadence — all set to an original score by Clara Aguilar and Ben Meerwein.

For anyone who loves the dark ecstasy of a night out but prefers to experience it from a velvet seat rather than a sweaty dance floor, Wunderkammer might just be your kind of rave.

The Staatsballett Berlin’s first new post-lockdown stage production will be created by choreographers from the ensemble: during times of self-isolation, dancers from the Staatsballett Berlin created choreographies for themselves and/or co-dancers residing in the same household. Under the title »LAB_WORKS COVID_19«, these creations will be performed live on stage at the earliest possible performance date with regulations suggested by the Robert-Koch-Institut not only applying in the auditorium but on stage as well. All nine world premieres, spanning from solos to pas de deux to a creation with six dancers whose physical distance is integral to the choreography, feature a wide spectrum of dance languages.

Capturing the creation process on film, from initial brainstorm at home to rehearsals in the studio and on stage, is part of the concept to unveil the dance profession’s emotional challenges during this pandemic to the audience.

LIB
Piece by Alexander Ekman

Alexander Ekman is known for his fast-paced timing, witty humour and clever staging. Since 2006, he has devoted his time to creating choreographies all across the globe. Having been fascinated by the creations of hair artist Charlie Le Mindu, especially his Chewbacca costumes which completely wrap their wearers in long hair, Alexander Ekman worked with him for the first time in LIB. The piece (referring to ‹liberation›) would not be a work by Alexander Ekman, if it would not have a humorous note, the balleri¬na’s virtuosity meets bizarre obstacles.

HALF LIFE
Dance piece by Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar
Music by Ori Lichtik

Sharon Eyal’s choreographies can be described as vibrant experiments on the border between precision and supposed excess, which seem to strike a chord with audience and dancers alike. The uncompromising Israeli choreographer has long since developed a very personal, unmistakable artistic signa¬ture and has taken the European dance stages by storm. Her piece Half Life, in the repertoire of the Staatsballett Berlin since 2018, discovers the field of tension between man and machine, collective and individual, techno and contemporary ballet. The hypnotic effect of this work is connected to the music created by Ori Lichtik during the choreographic process.

photos: Frank Schröder & Anna Agliardi