Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas , GLA55. 10 movements to the music of Philip Glass

Certain ‘early works’ carry a special energy: They retain the moment of their radical invention. In GLA55, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker turns to Philipp Glass’ beginnings for the first time – to four minimalist compositions from the 1969-1970 era, characterised by the influence wielded by Indian sitar player and composer Ravi Shankar and a new idea of musical flow beyond rigid bars. From repetitive miniatures comes a trance-like and simultaneously precise and unpredictable stream. Circles, spirals, ellipses and the lemniscate ∞ become the leading choreographic figures for a piece that views movement as a continuous transformation. To achieve this, Rosas puts six virtuosic dancers onto the stage who, in conjunction with the music by the Ictus ensemble and Bl!ndman, seek a physical practice that dissolves all bar lines.

For decades now, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker/Rosas has left her mark on the international dance landscape, and her tanzhaus nrw guest performances are always greeted with great and joyful appreciation. With GLA55, one of the most important choreographers of our time returns with a new ensemble piece for six dancers – with a work that lets the audience experience, in an impressive manner, the hypnotic powers of minimalism, the virtuosity of Rosas as well as the close connection of dance and music.

A central role in this is occupied by Brussels’ ensembles Ictus and Bl!ndman who are among the most distinguished formations for contemporary and experimental music. Ictus, founded as a musical partner for Rosas in 1994, has been working at the crossroads of new music, performance, sound art and choreography for decades and is a longstanding artistic companion for De Keersmaeker – GLA55 marks their sixteenth collaboration already. Ictus has also guested at tanzhaus nrw before, most recently in works by choreographers like Ula Sickle.

Bl!ndman, in turn, have made their international reputation with their genre-spanning, oftentimes performative projects. Starting out as a saxophone quartet, the collective morphed into a multifarious formation that combines musical precision with experiment, room acoustics, and other art forms. For GLA55, the unmistakable sound worlds of Ictus and Bl!ndman meet Rosas’ choreographic reality – an encounter that lets the audience experience the trance-like surge of Philipp Glass’ early music directly.