A key partner of the Leipzig Ballet is the Gewandhausorchester, which will also be accompanying the new choreographies »Giselle« and »Peter I. Tchaikovsky« at the Ballet Festival. Guests will include the Akram Khan Company from London and Edward Clug with the ballet of the Slovenian National Theater Maribor. The city of dance Leipzig will also be represented in the in-depth program of »Leipzig dances!« by e.g. the mixed-abled FORWARD DANCE COMPANY by LOFFT – DAS THEATER, a free production house, or in a gala at the Opera House, and in a cooperative project with Leipzig’s club scene. Along with dance-along opportunities, there will be behind-the-scenes glimpses and the chance for exchanges at each performance. The Ballet Festival is meant to be a festival of encounters and discourses. The panels will feature renowned guests such as the well-known dance and theatre expert Dr. Gabriele Brandstetter. The Ballet Festival is curated by Rémy Fichet, the long-time production manager of the Leipzig Ballet, who formerly began as a dancer at the Opéra National de Paris and continued his solo career at the Leipzig Ballet with Uwe Scholz. For the »City of Music:Leipzig«, this festival is a gem in the annual roster of music festivals that echo the city’s great musical tradition. The 2024 international Ballet Festival underscores dance as an integral part of the city’s musical and theatrical history.

All ticket orders for the upcoming season and the Ballet Festival can be placed online at oper-leipzig.de beginning on Thursday, June 1, 2023, or through Oper Leipzig’s Visitor Services Tue – Fri 10 am to 6 pm, Sat 12 pm to 6 pm, both at the Opera House box office and by phone at + 49 (0)341-12 61 261.

www.oper-leipzig.de/en

Further information 

AKRAM KHAN COMPANY

Akram Khan from London is one of the most renowned dance artists of our time, for whom, in his own words, dance signifies »mother tongue and religion«. His success is reflected in his imaginative and accessible productions such as »Jungle Book reimagined«, »Outwitting the devil«, »XENOS«, »Until the Lions«,» Kaash«, »iTMOi (in the mind of igor)«, » DESH«, »Vertical Road«, »Gnosis« and »zero degrees«. A distinguishing feature of his choreographic signature is the fusion of the classical Indian dance Kathak with contemporary movements. Together with a world-class team and artists, Khan is currently creating a new choreography in London, which he will also be presenting in Leipzig on June 26, 2024.

BALLET MARIBOR

The Slovenian National Theatre Maribor is the country’s largest cultural institution, enriching Slovenia’s cultural landscape with its own theatre, opera, ballet and concert productions. The ballet of the Slovenian National Theatre, BALLET MARIBOR, is distinguished by its versatile repertoire, which fuses classical, neoclassical and contemporary dance forms. For the past twenty years, Romanian choreographer Edward Clug has served as ballet director. Clug, already celebrated in Leipzig and Zurich for his interpretation of »Faust«, has firmly anchored BALLET MARIBOR in the international ballet scene through his programmatic orientation as well as his own innovative and expressive productions. With its story ballet »Peer Gynt«, BALLET MARIBOR will be performing in Leipzig on June 21 and 22, 2024.

 FORWARD DANCE COMPANY by LOFFT – DAS THEATER

FORWARD DANCE COMPANY is the in-house dance company of LOFFT – DAS THEATER, an independent production house in Leipzig. It consists of a permanent ensemble of six dancers who work with several different choreographers. FORWARD DANCE COMPANY uses the artistic means of dance to question the aesthetically and discursively long-established worldviews, power relations, and body images. It does so by creating new, hitherto unexplored dance vocabulary and making this visible in its stagings. FORWARD DANCE COMPANY is the first dance company in Saxony in which diverse dancers with different physicalities work together under professional conditions. It is also the first mixed-abled dance company at an independent production house in the German-speaking region. On June 24 and 25, 2024, the audience of the international Ballet Festival »Leipzig dances!« will have the chance to experience a current work of the FORWARD DANCE COMPANY. 

IVONA

The project-based company IVONA was founded in 2019 by the Italian-Swiss dancer Pablo Girolami. An association of various artists engaged in diverse artistic languages, also beyond dance, IVONA sees itself as a contemporary testament to professional artistic research. The first creation of IVONA »Manbusha« was born out of the encounter between Girolami and the dancer Giacomo Todeschi. Their duet was performed at various festivals in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Turkey and Portugal and won several awards. In 2022, IVONA won first prize at the international choreography competition in Jerusalem as well as the prestigious Italian Premio Twain Direzioni_Altre 2022. In Leipzig, they will present a new work, »Selective Breeding«, on June 22 and 23, 2024. 

LEIPZIG BALLET

Two Leipzig premieres planned by Ballet Director and Chief Choreographer of Leipzig Ballet Mario Schröder for the 23/24 season will also be featured at the Ballet Festival. The revamped classic »Giselle« will be a spherical fusion of dance, voice and bodies. This choreographic world premiere by Mario Schröder is the first collaboration of the internationally successful vocal ensemble »Sjaella« with the Leipzig Ballet and the Gewandhausorchester. »Giselle« is the closing performance of the Festival on June 29, 2024. Already on June 23, 2024, the Leipzig Ballet performs »Peter I. Tchaikovsky«. Mario Schröder invited the Catalan choreographer Cayetano Soto for this performance. Through his compositions, Tchaikovsky influenced and shaped classical ballet as only few other composers have. The myth of his music remains unbroken to this day. Cayetano Soto draws an engaging portrait of a man who could not live his life the way he wished he could have.