De Keersmaeker : The Six Brandenburg Concertos [VOD]

The Six Brandenburg Concertos

Like no other, Bach’s music carries within itself movement and dance, managing to combine the greatest abstraction with a concrete, physical and, subsequently, even transcendental dimension.
– Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

During her 1980 stay in New York, in which she first rehearsed her celebrated Violin Phase to the music of Steve Reich, the only other recording playing in Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s studio was the Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach. Thirty-five years later, De Keersmaeker continues her work with the piece.

The Brandenburg Concertos consist of six concerti grossi, in which Bach deploys the instruments from the baroque orchestra in different, often audacious constellations. Against this backdrop, De Keersmaeker sets sixteen dancers originating in different Rosas generations. Following her usual method, and as she did in Rain (after Steve Reich), she approaches the music as if it were a ready-made score for a dance piece, embodying Bach’s polyphonic mastery. The concertos are played live by the baroque ensemble B’Rock, conducted by violinist Amandine Beyer.

The Six Brandenburg Concertos [VOD]

Music Johann Sebastian Bach

Choreography Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

Created with and danced by ROSAS
Boštjan Antončič,
Carlos Garbin,
Frank Gizycki,
Marie Goudot,
Robin Haghi,
Cynthia Loemij,
Mark Lorimer,
Michaël Pomero,
Jason Respilieux,
Igor Shyshko,
Luka Švajda,
Jakub Truszkowski,
Thomas Vantuycom,
Samantha van Wissen,
Sandy Williams,
Sue Yeon Youn

B’Rock Orchestra
Conducted by Amandine Beyer

Set and lighting design Jan Versweyveld
Costumes An D’Huys
Dramaturgy Jan Vandenhouwe
Artistic assistant Femke Gyselinck
Musical advice Kees van Houten

A Rosas production in coproduction with B’Rock Orchestra, Volksbühne (Berlin), La Monnaie / De Munt (Brussels), Opéra de Lille, Opéra national de Paris, Sadler’s Wells (London), Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Concertgebouw (Bruges), Hollandfestival (Amsterdam)