Bill & Mr. B.
George Balanchine and William Forsythe
A tribute to two of the great dance innovators and choreographic geniuses of the twentieth century.
Video
program
sharp, fast and virtuoso
A tribute to two of the great dance innovators and choreographic geniuses of the twentieth century.
They are regarded everywhere as the two greatest dance innovators of the twentieth century: George Balanchine (1904-1983), who was always called Mr. B by his dancers, and William – or Bill – Forsythe (1949).
Whereas the former transformed classical ballet into an abstract art form filled with dynamics and sharpness, the latter went one step further by turning ballet technique and logic completely upside down and making it his own.
According to Balanchine, his masterpiece Symphony in Three Movements serves no other purpose than to 'visualise' the complexity and variation in Stravinsky's music of the same name – from the powerful, driving beginning and ending to the refined middle section for piano, harp and orchestra. The virtuoso group sections are infectious and sporty, and the pas de deux in between is peaceful and almost meditative.
The Second Detail, by Forsythe, starts as a classical ballet, to which different elements (details) are gradually added. It results in a competition in sharpness and speed, and the ability to keep pushing the body to new heights, depths and contortions.
Steptext is a kaleidoscope of movement, once described by prima ballerina Sylvie Guillem as "coming dangerously close to the impossible".
‘Laser-sharp and exciting complexities, balancing between chaos and control’
- De Telegraaf about The Second Detail
Credits
symphony in three movements
Accompanied by Holland Symfonia
Musical direction Otto Tausk
Choreography George Balanchine
Music Igor Stravinsky
Schedule
Pricing starts from € 15.00 to € 48.00
Pricing |
sat - sun |
mon - fri |
|---|---|---|
Rank 1 |
€ 48.00 | € 42.00* |
€ 46.00 | € 41.00* |
Rank 2 |
€ 38.00 | € 35.00* |
€ 37.00 | € 33.50* |
Rank 3 |
€ 29.00 | € 22.50* |
€ 28.00 | € 22.00* |
Rank 4 |
€ 19.50 | € 15.50* |
€ 18.50 | € 15.00* |
* with stadspas, CJP or below 16
Prices include € 2,- reservation costs
The duration of the show is approximately 3 hours, including two intermissions
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sat 23 jun 2012 |
20.15 uur |
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sun 24 jun 2012 |
14.00 uur |
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wed 27 jun 2012 |
20.15 uur |
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fri 29 jun 2012 |
20.15 uur |
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sat 30 jun 2012 |
20.15 uur |
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sun 1 jul 2012 |
14.00 uur |
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Prefer to order by telephone? Call the Boxoffice on +31 (20) 6 255 455
Images
castlist
Use the link for actual information about the castlist.
> castlist
reviews
de Volkskrant
‘However different the gentlemen might be, Bill & Mr. B. is to be enjoyed for the technically virtuoso, abstract movement constructions’. (...) ‘With Mr. B. you know just where to look, whereas with Bill you need an extra pair of eyes (...)’
(4 out of 5 stars)
Trouw
‘Last season, the Dutch National Ballet raised the technical bar even higher, and can now hold its own with the top companies in Europe’. ‘Forsythe’s quartet Steptext (1985), set to an unravelled partita by Bach, is a vehicle for soloists and a ballet monstrosity rolled into one. It’s hard work for the female principal, as each movement is stretched to inhuman proportions, performed excellently here by supernova Anna Tsygankova’.
De Telegraaf
‘Diamond and dynamite’. At the close of a fine anniversary season, the Dutch National Ballet still has enough energy for the demanding programme Bill & Mr. B’. About Symphony in Three Movements: ‘Among the six good principals, Cédric Ygnace, in particular, stands out for his engaging musicality’. About Symphony in Three Movements: ‘32 dancers amaze the audience with darting patterns that are testimony to an inexhaustible imagination and which often reveal a diamond brilliance’.
(4 out of 5 stars)
Noordhollands Dagblad
‘In the three short, powerful pieces of Bill & Mr. B., the Dutch National Ballet prove themselves at home in the dance idiom of the greatest choreographers: George Balanchine (Mr. B.) and William – Bill – Forsythe’.
Symphony in Three Movements – with the mystical pas de deux by Casey Herd and Igone de Jongh – makes it clear that the audience are watching top-class sport’. About Steptext: ‘Nothing seems to be impossible for Anna Tsygankova. (...) The magnificent Tsygankova continues to amaze us with her technical ability (...) A phenomenal performance’. (...)‘The Second Detail remains a spectacular sight, partly because of the great pleasure radiated by the dancers’.