van Manen / Cherkaoui

There is no story, but the viewer understands what is happening. Van Manen created Solo (1997) to Bach's Violin partita for three dancers, because the tempo is so fast and the movement is so abrupt that a single person could not accomplish it. In six minutes, the three dancers take turns dazzling the audience. Also in Four Schumann Pieces Van Manen gives a central place to a male soloist who is shadowed, so to speak, by five pairs of dancers who embody his desires and
melancholy.

Faun by Cherkaoui – presented in 2013 by the Royal Ballet Flanders – offers an alternative view of the legendary solo by Nijinsky to Claude Debussy's ‘Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune’. Larbi’s Faun meets his female counterpart. This programme will conclude with Fall, a world premiere by Cherkaoui to music by the contemporary composer Arvo Pärt.