Serata Coreografi Contemporanei
Teatro dell’Opera di Roma pays its respects to three contemporary choreographers in Serata Coreografi Contemporanei, an evening of modern ballet in the heart of Rome. Featuring the music of classical greats like Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach as well as more contemporary composers such as Maurice Ravel and Ezio Bosso, the performance puts a spotlight on the groundbreaking work of Christopher Wheeldon, Goyo Montero, and Krzystof Pastor, each with his own unique language and style.
The programme opens with Within the Golden Hour by Christopher Wheeldon, a one-act ballet piece he created for the San Francisco Ballet. It premiered at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California, in 2008, and has been a mainstay on the modern ballet circuit. In the performance, fourteen dancers, including three main duos, explore the space under the accompaniment of Ezio Bosso’s contemporary score. The music also features themes by Antonio Vivaldi, lending the production a feel of timelessness. Wheeldon is a dancer and choreographer of Royal Ballet fame who was the first Englishman to receive a commission for new work from the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet.
Next comes Chacona by Goyo Montero. The name derives from the final part of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No 2 in D Minor, the ‘Chaconne’, one of the choreographer’s favourite pieces of classical music. Originally part of his ensemble work Vasos Comunicantes, produced in 2003, Chacona emerged as a standalone work in 2017 in performance by Montevideo’s Ballet Nacional de Sodre. Black-clad classical dancers perform Montero’s physically strenuous contemporary choreography to the sound of Bach’s stern yet elegant melodies and counterpoints. Despite a short length of about fifteen minutes, Chacona is demanding yet rewarding to watch.
Bolero by Krzystof Pastor closes the triple bill. Produced in 2012 for the Dutch National Ballet, it features dancers dressed in bright red colour, moving to the hypnotic rhythm of Maurice Ravel’s signature composition. Pastor’s eclectic style, cultivated in his native Poland and in the Netherlands in equal measure, matches with the piece’s inimitable atmosphere perfectly. Teatro Costanzi hosts a remarkable modern dance performance that stuns with versatility and appeal.