Dawson / Lightfoot – León / Ekman
In a triple bill of ballets, Rome's Teatro dell’Opera di Roma hosts Dawson / Lightfoot – León / Ekman, a run of performances with music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, Gustav Mahler, Franz Schubert and Richard Strauss. The programme opens with Cacti, choreographed by the Swedish dancer Alexander Ekman and follows with a rendition of Subject to Change, a ballet by Paul Lightfoot and Sol León. The final ballet is Four Last Songs, which is set to the powerful song cycle of the same name by Richard Strauss with choreography by David Dawson.
Ekman has collaborated with over 40 dance companies around the world over the course of his dance and choreography career including the Royal Swedish Ballet. The premiere of Cacti took place in 2010 after the Queen of the Netherlands gave it to the Oslo Opera during a royal visit to Norway. The ballet focuses on contemporary dance attitudes, something Ekman was immersed in and offers a slightly tongue-in-cheek interpretation of them. In the performance, 16 dancers begin on plinths that resemble giant Scrabble tiles, seemingly trapped on them. String quartet accompanying music is played. Excerpts from Beethoven, Haydn and Mahler all feature plus an Andy Stein arrangement of a movement taken from Schubert's Death and the Maiden string quartet which was newly arranged for Cacti. The ballet went on to be nominated for a 2010 Swan Award.
Subject to Change is also Dutch in origin. Its choreographers put it together while at the NDT2 dance company at the Nederlands Dans Theater and it debuted in March 2003. Lightfoot and Sol were parents to a five-year-old daughter when Subject to Change was being developed. Part of its creation involved a tragic incident that affected the pair greatly. Along with this change to their lifestyle, dealing with the growing demands of parenthood, the title of the piece also reflects their experience of dance at the time with schedules and cast sheets often featuring these words. Subject to Change, therefore, invites audiences to expect the unexpected. This ballet's music also includes a movement drawn from Schubert's Death and the Maiden, one that was rearranged by Gustav Mahler in his 1894 reworking of the piece.
The final ballet, Four Last Songs, makes use of Richard Strauss' famous song cycle which saw its worldwide premiere on 22 May 1950 at London's Royal Albert Hall following the death of its composer. These songs have long inspired choreographers and musicians alike, often due to the inner sense of calm and serenity they convey. This ballet is the newest of the three on the bill and was first performed at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London on 21 September 2023. British-born David Dawson's choreography deals with these themes poetically, doing the music justice with elegant and measured movements with 12 featured dancers.
The triple bill of Dawson / Lightfoot – León / Ekman at Rome's Teatro dell’Opera di Roma will thrill audiences with stunningly beautiful melodies and carefully choreographed dance moves.