Canzone per Ornella
With “Canzone per Ornella” – premiering at the Festival d’Avignon, praised as one of this year’s high points -, Raimund Hoghe continues his portrait series of exceptional dancers. Following his latest works with Takeshi Ueno and Emmanuel Eggermont, he now concentrates on Ornella Balestra. The Italy-based dancer and the Düsseldorf-based author and choreographer have been linked by a longstanding artistic collaboration. An initial work, “Tanzgeschichten (Dance Stories) was created in 2003, followed by numerous ground-breaking group pieces: ”Boléro Variations“, “Swan Lake, 4 Acts“, “Wenn ich sterbe, lasst den Balkon geöffnet (When I die, leave the balcony open)“, “Quartet“ and “La Valse“. Individual scenes, plucked from these productions, resurface like memories in “Canzone per Ornella” and turn the staging into a journey through shared history. This is mirrored by the presence of Raimund Hoghe and Luca Giacomo Schulte appearing on stage alongside Ornella Balestra.
Ornella Balestra started dance studies in her native city of Turin. She completed her education at the Royal Academy of Dance, at the Scala in Milan and with Maurice Béjart in 1973. She became a solo dancer in his company while also featuring as a prima ballerina at major Italian theatres. Apart from her work with Raimund Hoghe, she danced in “Rosenzeit”, a solo Luca Giacomo Schulte had developed specifically for her in 2009.
Duration: 90 min.
Concept, Choreography, Equipment: Raimund Hoghe; Artistic Cooperation: Luca Giacomo Schulte; Dance: Ornella Balestra, Raimund Hoghe, Luca Giacomo Schulte; Light: Raimund Hoghe, Amaury Seval; Music and Text interpreted by Victoria de los Angeles, Charles Aznavour, Leonard Bernstein, Gigliola Cinquetti, Dalida, Georges Delerue, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Milly, Bobby Solo, Chavela Vargas und Pier Paolo Pasolini; Photography: Rosa Frank; Management: Les Indépendances, Paris. www.raimundhoghe.com
A production by Raimund Hoghe - Hoghe + Schulte GbR Düsseldorf, coproduced by the Theater im Pumpenhaus Münster. Funded by the Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes NRW, the Kunststiftung NRW and the Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf. With support from La Ménagerie de Verre Paris in the framework of Studiolab. Special thanks to agnès b. Paris.
