Zurich Opera House 19 February 2023 - Choreographies by Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke: "Emergence", "Almost Blue", "Angels’ Atlas" | GoComGo.com

Choreographies by Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke: "Emergence", "Almost Blue", "Angels’ Atlas"

Zurich Opera House, Zurich, Switzerland
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1 PM

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Modern Ballet
City: Zurich, Switzerland
Starts at: 13:00
Acts: 3
Intervals: 2
Duration: 2h 20min

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Overview

Three-part performance

Crystal Pite’s acclaimed piece Emergence premiered in Zurich in 2018.  In the process of creating the work, Pite took inspiration from the communal behavior of bees, using their swarm intelligence as a model for creativity for a ballet company. It truly seems as though the dancers of Ballett Zürich have become an animal colony as they perform a work that is overwhelming in its collective force.

Using classical ballet as a foundation, the German choreographer Marco Goecke has developed an unmistakable language of movement that – in its amalgamation of nervousness and frenzy – repeatedly makes one aware of the nightmarish nature of dance. Goecke recently caused a sensation in Zurich with his ballet Nijinski. Prior to taking over as Ballet Director in Hanover, he closed out his tenure as House Choreographer in Stuttgart in 2018 with Almost Blue. Set to emotion-laden songs by blues and gospel legend Etta James, and pieces by the American band "Antony and the Johnsons", the ballet explores aspects of change and impermanence.

Crystal Pite is one of the most sought-after choreographers of our time. She leads her own company, called "Kidd Pivot", in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada), and is a regular guest at the greatest companies in the world. Her Angels’ Atlas, which celebrated its world premiere in 2020 with the National Ballet of Canada, was created as a co-production with the Ballett Zürich – and is on its way to the city on the Limmat for its European premiere. In her work, Crystal Pite explores the connection between light and dance: both choreography and the movement of light are mercurial and fleeting, but, according to the choreographer, "Through dance, we can counter our own transience". For Angels’ Atlas in Zurich, Jay Gower Taylor and Tom Visser developed a sophisticated system for manipulating reflected light. With it, they create complex, picture-like images on a projection surface, creating a striking illusion of both depth and naturalness in the process.

Venue Info

Zurich Opera House - Zurich
Location   Sechseläutenplatz 1

Zürich Opera House is a main opera house in Zürich and Switzerland. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zürich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. It is also home to the Zürich Ballet. The Opera House also holds concerts by its Philharmonia orchestra, matinees, Lieder evenings and events for children. The Zürich Opera Ball is organised every year in March, and is usually attended by prominent names.

The first permanent theatre, the Aktientheater, was built in 1834 and it became the focus of Richard Wagner’s activities during his period of exile from Germany.

The Aktientheater burnt down in 1890. The new Stadttheater Zürich (municipal theatre) was built by the Viennese architects Fellner & Helmer, who changed their previous design for the theatre in Wiesbaden only slightly. It was opened in 1891. It was the city's main performance space for drama, opera, and musical events until 1925, when it was renamed Opernhaus Zürich and a separate theatre for plays was built: The Bernhard Theater opened in 1941, in May 1981 the Esplanada building was demolished, and the present adjoint building opened on 27/28 December 1984 after three years of transition in the Kaufhaus building nearby Schanzengraben.

By the 1970s, the opera house was badly in need of major renovations; when some considered it not worth restoring, a new theatre was proposed for the site. However, between 1982 and 1984, rebuilding took place but not without huge local opposition which was expressed in street riots. The rebuilt theatre was inaugurated with Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and the world première of Rudolf Kelterborn’s Chekhov opera Der Kirschgarten.

As restored, the theatre is an ornate building with a neo-classical façade of white and grey stone adorned with busts of Weber, Wagner, and Mozart. Additionally, busts of Schiller, Shakespeare, and Goethe are to be found. The auditorium is built in the neo-rococo style and seats approximately 1200 people. During the refurbishment, the issue of sightlines was not adequately addressed. As a result, the theatre has a high number of seats with a limited view, or no view, of the stage. This is unusual in international comparison, where sightlines in historic opera houses have been typically enhanced over time.

Corporate archives and historical library collections are held at the music department of the Predigerkirche Zürich.

The Zürich Opera House is also home of the International Opera Studio (in German: Internationales Opernstudio IOS) which is a educational program for young singers and pianists. The studio was created in 1961 and has renowned artists currently teaching such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Hedwig Fassbender, Andreas Homocki, Rosemary Joshua, Adrian Kelly, Fabio Luisi, Jetske Mijnssen, Ann Murray, Eytan Pessen or Edith Wiens.

Important Info
Type: Modern Ballet
City: Zurich, Switzerland
Starts at: 13:00
Acts: 3
Intervals: 2
Duration: 2h 20min
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