Two giants of improvisation to close the Fall Flash

BarcelonaThe first edition of the Autumn Flash, the festival promoted by Temporada Alta The festival, which brings international performing arts to Barcelona, ​​will conclude this week with a double bill of top-tier dance. American choreographer William Forsythe and Swiss choreographer Thomas Hauert will present their work at the Mercat de les Flors. Double Bill, in collaboration with the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, one of the most prestigious dance companies on the current scene. Forsythe has choreographed Undertainmenta piece based on scenic freedom, while Hauert has created Playing with Sergei, Martha and the others from the Piano Concerto No. 3 by Rachmaninoff. Both works, built from improvisation and featuring fourteen dancers on stage, will be performed consecutively this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Barcelona.

In the case of Forsythe, who for many years directed the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, this time he has worked primarily with the aim of reconnecting a new generation of dancers with his way of relating to the body and with the knowledge he has contributed to dance. "Many dance students don't know where some movements come from, or a way of dancing and being on stage. We have worked by improvising from very simple foundations laid by Forsythe, until they have become a composition," explains the artistic director of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, Ioannis Mandafounis. The creation stems from the search for aesthetic pleasure and connects classical ballet with new forms of contemporary dance. "The foundational knowledge is the origin and the spark of everything, but once achieved, we try to get the dancers to forget it and experience different sensations each time. This is reflected on stage," Mandafounis emphasizes.

For his part, Thomas Hauert based his composition on Rachmaninoff's music. "It's a very complex work, but at the same time very accessible. The harmony is intricate and, at the same time, easy to listen to," the choreographer explains. From there, he sought to have the dancers "let go" and "react" to the music to convey, through movement, the emotions it evokes in them. "We've taken this masterful work and played with it to the point that the performers know every note of the piece perfectly. On stage, they not only react, but they can anticipate. This was the most important thing," Hauert explains. For him, improvising is returning to childhood, a stage "of absolute freedom in which I fully enjoyed dance." Working in this way, he adds, "leads to much greater complexity, because it allows one to move away from a more analytical mindset and open up to creativity."