Much Ado About Nothing
“Impressing the Czar”
Semperoper Ballet
Semperoper
Dresden, Germany
May 25, 2015
by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2015 by Ilona Landgraf
William Forsythe’s “Impressing the Czar” is the Semperoper Ballet’s second premiere this season. It testifies to the company’s strong ties with the choreographer, reinforcing the relationship. After the closure of Forsythe’s own company, Ballet Frankfurt, in 2004, where “Impressing the Czar” had received its premiere in January 1988, only the Royal Ballet of Flanders and now the Semperoper Ballet are allowed to perform it. In the program notes Forsythe emphasized his intense, confidence-building collaboration with the Dresden company. At the moment it is the only one dancing his earlier works in a true and faithful manner.
Hence the prospects were bright that the evening would be exceptional and, as the title implies, really impressive. (more…)