Giselle e altre storie

Zampanò, a rough-necked showman, travels across the country together with his penniless assistant Gelsomina, whom he treats like a slave. When Gelsomina one day meets the daring tightrope walker Matto and the two continue to get closer, a momentous argument ensues between Zampanò, Gelsomina and Matto. A tense love triangle forms the dramatic focus of Federico Fellini's Oscar-winning film classic "La Strada" from 1954. For his film music, which the composer adapted into a ballet suite in 1966, Nino Rota was largely inspired by Fellini's emotionally charged visual language.

 

 

The natural spectacle of the Alps and the view of the mountains develop a force that has influenced and shaped people since primeval times. This is how traditions, customs and habits emerged that are typical of the Alpine region. However, if one climbs carelessly to altitude, the decreasing air pressure can cause mountain sickness, confusion and hallucinations. Today we live in a successful and performance-oriented society that is characterized by strong individualism. The »high rush« thus becomes a symbol of our society, which often wants to climb too high too quickly.

 

The Austrian choreographer Georg Reischl returns thematically to his home country with this dance evening and shows that we need the old in order to be able to break new ground: »The curious and regionally unique customs in the Salzburg region inspire me to create a choreography that brings together what doesn't belong together, namely alpine tradition with contemporary dance.« Together with the ballet company of the Gärtnerplatztheater he is looking for a contemporary vocabulary of movement for Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 »Die Romantic«, the high point of late romantic symphony, that shows its relationship to classical Dance not denied to make the music visible through the body.

 

Soccer is a man's sport, and men don't cry - especially not top athletes! Soccer players are identification figures, idols, heroes. But Marco Goecke looks behind the facades: Soccer also means pressure to perform, having to function, and fears forced to hide behind steely physical strength - lonely tears, unheard sobs!

 

Fun-loving Giselle falls in love with daredevil Albrecht and gives up her previous life plan because of him. He realizes too late that he was just playing with her. She dies from this experience. From now on, Albrecht has to live with the knowledge that he has Giselle on his conscience. Thoughts of the victims of his selfish deeds haunt him like vengeful furies. Will he be able to find forgiveness before being hunted to death?

In 1841, a text by Heinrich Heine on the legendary figures of the Wilis gave Théophile Gautier the idea of making a ballet with the material. The Wilis are young brides who died before their marriage and find no peace: in the forest at night every man they meet dances to death. Last but not least, the mythic character of the ballet ensures the enduring fascination that "Giselle" still exerts today. The libretto juxtaposes three archaic motifs which create the actual field of tension in which the plot moves: wine, hunting and the forest. Karl Alfred Schreiner partly departs from the surface of the plot structure, but emphasizes even more the deeper dimension of the material, the timelessness of which is fueled by the power of myth. He is supported by the emotional music of Adolphe Adams, presented by Michael Nündel, the musical director, in an unusual interpretation, partly arranged.