on 19 November, we present the award-winning ballet The Winter’s Tale by Christoper Wheeldon, the first season premiere of the Vienna State Ballet at the Vienna State Opera.
The kings of Sicilia and Bohemia, Leontes and Polixenes, have been friends since childhood. But one day, Leontes is overcome by a feeling of jealousy and accuses his friend of having an affair with his pregnant wife Hermione. A suspicion turns into false accusations with existential consequences. Polixenes is forced to flee, Hermione goes to prison, where she gives birth to a daughter. Leontes refuses to recognize her as his child and abandons her on a foreign shore during a stormy night. Mamillius, the older brother of the girl who is later given the name Perdita by a shepherd, dies of grief. Hermione collapses over her son’s body and is pronounced dead …
With The Winter’s Tale, based on William Shakespeare’sromance of the same name, British star choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has created a modern narrative ballet that – set between the dark atmosphere of the royal court of Sicilia and a pastoral idyll in the spring-like hilly landscape of a fictional Bohemia – deals with fundamental human emotions: “A story of forgiveness and transformation, ultimately proving what we are all capable of: cruelty and compassion, shades of light and shades of darkness”, so Wheeldon. At the end of the gripping drama, the royal couple Leontes and Hermione are reunited and their daughter Perdita, who was thought lost, is returned to her parents, but blind jealousy, madness, death and disappointment have left their mark.
With its world premiere 2014 at the Royal Ballet in London and winning the Prix Benois de la Danse in 2015 for numerous categories including “best classical choreography”, Wheeldon gifted the dance world with another “future classic” following his 2011 hit Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – and it now takes its place in the repertoire of the Vienna State Ballet. The Briton, whose roles include Artist Associate at the Royal Ballet, is one of the leading choreographers of his generation and has been hailed as “the magician who has dressed the story ballet in contemporary clothing”.
Wheeldon’s choreography approaches Shakespeare’s tragic storyline, which is also repeatedly imbued with a fairytale-like lightness, with dramaturgical intelligence and a rich visual world, which is congenially supported by Bob Crowley’s impressive set and costume design, the projections by video artist Daniel Brodie and the breathtaking silk effects by Basil Twist. Wheeldon places his movement language at the service of a multi-layered drawing of the characters: sometimes taking up the expressiveness of Modern Dance, sometimes poetically gentle, but also full of virtuosity, further developing the vocabulary of classical ballet. The colourful dances of the shepherds in the second act are in the tradition of the White Acts of romantic ballet, which are committed to pure dance.
On the musical side, the work – following Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Like Water for Chocolate – is characterised by another collaboration between Wheeldon and Joby Talbot. With this commissioned work, the English composer has once again been able to give important impulses to composing for dance. Talbot skilfully fuses classical and world music, shows himself to be a brilliant painter with the colours of the orchestra, a precise draughtsman of characters and atmospheres through his work with leitmotifs and a clever dramaturge in terms of creating musical spaces for everything that distinguishes a ballet, from solos, pas de deux and ensemble scenes to gripping depictions of nature. A particular highlight is the spring festival in the second act, in which a band on stage plays melodies reminiscent of folk music for dancing. Talbot chose instruments from all over the world for this, such as the Indian bamboo flute bansuri or African and South American drums: “I wanted to use folk instruments but didn’t want the music to sound like it was from a specific place in the real world. Shakespeare’s Bohemia is an idyllic, Arcadian paradise, not a real country, and I was keen to try to create the illusion that we are getting a tiny glimpse of the rich musical culture of this imaginary realm.”
Ballet director Martin Schläpfer has scored another coup with the Austrian premiere of The Winter’s Tale in a co-production with the American Ballet Theatre, to whom the set and costume designs made in Vienna will be transferred next season for premieres on the American West Coast and at the New York Metropolitan Opera. Following the first Viennese production of John Neumeier’s The Lady of the Camellias last season, The Winter’s Tale is another recent masterpiece of story ballet to join the repertoire of the Vienna State Ballet. “Wheeldon is a charismatic artist and great choreographer who creates not only for ballet companies but also for Broadway. His work has a fascinating lightness, yet his characters have a great and touching depth”, says Martin Schläpfer about his colleague. “At the moment, there are few people choreographing story ballets at this level and the production is also right up to date in terms of its very complex and elaborate stage design. The plot after Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale is based on material that has not been told hundred s of times on the dance stage, but contains wonderful roles that require great experience in performance. I think that we currently have the artists in the Vienna State Ballet’s ensemble who can fulfil this, but who I would also like to see anew with such a work.”
Vienna State Ballet
THE WINTER’S TALE
Venue Vienna State Opera
Premiere 19 November 2024, 7 pm
Further dates 21, 23, 26, 29 November, 1, 6, 17, 20 December 2024
Work introduction ½ hour before the start of each performance in the Gustav Mahler-Saal
Music Joby Talbot
Choreography Christopher Wheeldon
Scenario Christopher Wheeldon & Joby Talbot
Musical Direction Christoph Koncz / Johannes Witt (23 Nov & 6 Dec)
Stage & Costume Design Bob Crowley
Lighting Natasha Katz
Projection Design Daniel Brodie
Silk Effects Design Basil Twist
Staging Jason Fowler, Gregory Mislin, Jillian Vanstone, Edward Watson
Vienna State Ballet
Students of the Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera
Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera
Stage orchestra of the Vienna State Opera
The cast of dancers will be announced at a later date. You will find them soon → HERE.
The Winter’s Tale is a co-production of the Vienna State Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre New York
Extras for the premiere
TANZPODIUM: NEUE MUSIK FÜR DEN TANZ
To mark the premiere of The Winter’s Tale, ballet director Martin Schläpfer, composer Joby Talbot, dramaturge Anne do Paço and other guests will discuss the topic of new music for dance in the first dance panel of the 2024/25 season. The discussion will be held in German and English.
Venue Vienna State Opera, Gustav Mahler-Saal
Date 10 November 2024, 3 pm
Further information can be found → HERE.
INTRODUCTORY MATINEE
The introductory matinees on Sunday mornings before a premiere at the Vienna State Opera have been a regular feature of the programme of the Vienna State Ballet since Martin Schläpfer took over as director. They offer a variety of insights into the process of creating a ballet and working with the dancers.
The matinee The Winter’s Tale opens up an interesting field of questions for the production team: How does a contemporary choreographer approach the narrative ballet form? How can a Shakespeare drama be adapted for the dance stage? How does Christopher Wheeldon create the characters in his ballet? How should we imagine the collaboration between choreographer and composer? Rehearsal excerpts with dancers from the Vienna State Ballet will deepen the insights. The event will be held in German and English.
Venue Vienna State Opera
Date 17 November 2024, 11 am
Further information can be found → HERE.
DANCE MOVIES: CENTER STAGE
Nicholas Hytner / US 2000 / 115 min / OV with subtitles
It was the dance film of the 2000s and still has cult status among ballet fans and dancers today. Centre Stage tells the story of ballet students in New York who all have the same dream and different problems. American ballet stars such as Julie Kent, Sascha Radetsky and Ethan Stiefel play leading roles in the film, as do the passionate and bravura choreographies – one of which was created by Christopher Wheeldon.
Venue Filmcasino (Margaretenstr. 78)
Date 24 November 2024, 1 pm
followed by a discussion with members of the Vienna State Ballet
Further information can be found → HIER.