Nacho Duato at The National Theatre

Every choreographer has a so-called signature piece – the one work that particularly stands out in an artist’s oeuvre and which is the basis of the worldwide reputation of an exceptional talent. The signature piece of the globally renowned Spanish creator Nacho Duato, the current artistic director of the Staatsballett Berlin, is indisputably the modern choreography Multiplicity. Forms of Silence and Emptiness, created for the European Capital of Culture 1999, Weimar. Behind the somewhat unwieldy title hides a unique tribute to the composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

The piece is made up of two parts, with the rapid first, Multiplicity, dominated by a wealth of choreographic variations, as they result from the very different musical excerpts of Bach’s music, including the famous Goldberg Variations, parts of the Brandenburg Concertos, and movements from his sonatas and organ concertos. The second half, Forms of Silence and Emptiness, is based solely on Bach’s Art of Fugue. This mystical and rather spiritual part reflects the mood of death and stands in stark contrast to the fast-paced first part.