Dutch National Opera & Ballet Presents SHADOWS Next Month

On Tuesday 13 September, Dutch National Ballet is opening its new season with an adapted programme entitled Shadows, comprising ballets about war, power and hope. The Green Table, an anti-war ballet by Kurt Jooss, is one of the most gripping works in twentieth-century dance history. This important ballet is unfortunately extremely relevant at the moment, so it has been included in the programme after an absence of 25 years. The world premiere of Regnum, by the Ukrainian-Dutch choreographer Milena Sidorova is a ballet about human motives and what people will do - both within personal relationships and society as a whole - to obtain power, set to Mozart's Symphony no. 25. It was already planned as part of the programme, as was the Dutch premiere of Wayne McGregor's Yugen, a hopeful ballet in which light and shadows play a major role in the stage sets.

The Green Table from 1932

The German choreographer Kurt Jooss created his ballet The Green Table ninety years ago, but the piece still grips and moves audiences today. For his magnum opus, Jooss initially drew inspiration from mediaeval illustrations of the dance of death, but current events in Germany in the 1930's soon lent the work overtones of an indictment against the abuse of power and the futility of war. We see 'bigwigs' around a conference table deciding the fate of soldiers and civilians, and in contrast Jooss shows the victims of war, who eventually come together in a quiet procession, led by the triumphant figure of Death.

Exceptionally musical

Alongside this work, in Shadows, Dutch National Ballet is presenting the Dutch premiere of Wayne McGregor's Yugen (Japanese for sublime beauty). For this impressive ballet, which met with great acclaim in London at the beginning of 2018, McGregor was inspired by Leonard Bernstein's monumental composition Chichester Psalms, an eclectic mix of Hebrew texts, Christian choral music and Broadway jazz. McGregor gives an exceptionally musical interpretation of the composition, alternating lyrical dance scenes with powerful, dynamic group sections. The sets for Yugen, in which light and shadows play a major role, were designed by the renowned ceramic artist Edmund de Waal.

Timeless and powerful

The third work in Shadows, entitled Regnum, is a world premiere by the Ukrainian-Dutch choreographer Milena Sidorova, who has been a dancer with Dutch National Ballet for seventeen years and has held the post of Young Creative Associate with the company since 2021. Sidorova's new creation for sixteen dancers, including principal Olga Smirnova, is inspired by Mozart's Symphony no. 25. The timeless and powerful character of the music forms the starting point for a ballet about human motives and the means that people use to gain power, both in personal relationships and in society as a whole. For this new ballet, Sidorova is working with game designer Anna Dohy, who is making her debut as a set designer. The costumes for Regnum are designed by François-Noël Cherpin, who has previously designed costumes for the Dutch National Ballet productions Mata Hari, Paquita and Ballet Imperial.

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