Staatsballett Berlin celebrates 20 years with a sparkling gala

Deutsche Oper, Berlin
July 7, 2024

The Staatsballet Berlin celebrated its 20th birthday in grand style. Accompanied by the Orchester Der Deutschen Oper Berlin led by Maria Seletskaja, the varied programme of mostly excerpts from longer pieces delighted the enthusiastic audience on a summery Sunday evening. The way it was all introduced by company director, Christian Spuck, now at the end of his first season in charge, and TV presenter and journalist Petra Gute, made it feel nicely informal. It was very enjoyable indeed.

The rich programme got off to a fine start with the Ball scene from Bovary by Spuck himself. The splendid, colourful, elegant costumes flew around and across the stage, a picture of constant floating and whirling. The choreography is a pleasure too, grandiose, dynamic and full of symmetrical patterns.

Among the many other contributions, I was particularly captivated by Aria, choreographed by Douglas Lee and danced by Ksenia Ovsyanick and David Soares. Two silhouettes in the dark, they move strikingly in shiny costumes. It’s a serpentine interaction between two beautiful and flexible bodies which pull and push each other in constant undulatory movements. The couple were superb. Their intricate dancing and the choreography itself were simply mesmerising.

The gala marked the departure after 17 years with the Staatsballett of principal dancer Elisa Carrillo Cabrera, who is leaving to pursue a career as an independent performer. Her first appearance of the evening came in a scene from Caravaggio by Mauro Bigonzetti, a work dedicated to the Italian artist, his inner world and his art. As are many of the artist’s paintings, her dance with Giovanni Princic was full of pathos and mystery.

The Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake was so beautifully danced by Iana Salenko and Marian Walter that they induced goosebumps. The couple were simply marvellous, both alone and together, the alchemy between them perceivable in every little gesture, their execution always impeccable.

Also enjoyable was Ben van Cauwenbergh’s gala regular, Les Bourgeois, danced by Dinu Tamazlacaru. The young dancer was fantastic in the role of a drunken bourgeois dancing to the music by Jacques Brel. His expressive face and body together with superlative jumps and delightful charm were superb. His ability to play with the song and embody the character with a good dose of irony won everyone over.

In Come back by Samatha Lynch, five dancers find themselves around a movable wooden black bench. They explore the space on, under, above and around it together, the action all taking place on an otherwise dark stage. The movements are fast and matrix like. Interceptions and interactions were exceptionally well performed. The touch of irony at the end made one like it even more.

Skew-Whiff is a creation by Paul Lightfoot and Sol León from 1996. Inspired by the Gioacchino Rossini’s, The Thieving Magpie, it’s danced to the opera’s overture. It features three men and woman who dance out some bizarre lifestyle situations, moving in crazy and strange ways, often pulling faces as they do so. The female attempts to ‘dispose’ of the guys but they keep coming back for more until she befriends them, allowing a shared playfulness. Light, dynamic and fun, it felt fresh and was very entertaining.

The gala concluded with Tué, choreographed by Marco Goecke in 2009 and dedicated to Princess Caroline of Monaco for her many years of commitment to dance. Considering her farewell to the company, and commitment to it over so many years, it felt very appropriate that it should be performed by Carrillo Cabrera. She danced it superlatively, as if taken by a higher power, a priestess coming from a different world and making a magic. She was captivating, both in the choreography’s scatty gestures and sinuous moves. Having proved herself such a great performer, in classical and contemporary work, she will be surely missed.

There was much more. It was a quite phenomenal evening. A triumph. A grand birthday party to celebrate the Staatsballett Berlin’s 20 years. It’s future looks bright indeed.