It starts with “Jolanthe and the Nutcracker” on October 9th at the Volksoper. Two Tchaikovsky works are intertwined. Both are about growing up and the focus is on a meeting of imagination and reality, explained ballet director Martin Schläpfer at the program presentation. The new director of the Volksoper, Lotte de Beer, is directing the joint production of opera and ballet.
There are two premieres on the State Opera stage. On the one hand, “Sleeping Beauty” with a choreography by ballet director Martin Schläpfer will be shown on October 24th. Schläpfer called the Tchaikovsky ballet his favorite classical piece. But he wanted to rethink the characters and, given the fairytale plot, ask himself whether “good and evil are really so far apart,” says Schläpfer. On April 27, 2023, the “Goldberg Variations” will follow with a neoclassical choreography by Heinz Spoerli.
New edition of “Platform Choreography”
The premiere of the second edition of “Platform Choreography” will take place in the Volksoper on December 16th. In this format, the ensemble members of the Vienna State Ballet are allowed to develop and present their own choreographic concepts. On February 11, 2023, Promethean Fire, which was postponed due to the pandemic, can be seen at the Volksoper. Two protagonists of American Modern Dance – Paul Taylor and Mark Morris – are brought into focus.
“Tanzpodium” and “Dance Movies”
After a few years, the ballet comedies “La fille mal gardee” (December 13) and “Don Quixote” (June 28, 2023) will be recorded again at the Vienna State Opera. Chief dramaturge Anne do Paco also recommends these plays to families with children. “Counterpoints”, “Onegin”, “In Seventh Heaven”, “Love Songs”, “A German Requiem”, “Encounters” and “The Seasons” remain in the repertoire.
In the “Tanzpodium” series, there are also introductions to works before most productions. On November 12, for example, a conversation with Martin Schläpfer on the subject of “training can be heard”. Four dance films will also be shown as part of the “Dance Movies”. With the film “Nureyev. The White Crow” the birthday of dancer of the century Rudolf Nureyev will be celebrated on March 12, 2023 in the Filmhaus Wien.
More occupancy in the State Opera than the Volksoper
There are innovations not only in the program, but also in the ensemble. With the pandemic, the State Ballet lost dancers. According to Schläpfer, some dancers like Roman Lazik decided to stop dancing. For this purpose, the Staatsballett engaged, for example, the Canadian Brendan Saye as the first solo dancer and the Dutchman Rashaen Arts as the demi-soloist.
The State Ballet now has a total of 101 dancers. In the 2021/22 season they danced at 86 performances. These achieved 82.9 percent seat occupancy in the State Opera and 62.7 percent in the Volksoper. The commercial director Simone Wohinz also addressed the ballet academy, against which allegations of abuse were made in 2019. One is in a reorganization phase and wants to offer an environment appropriate to the child’s well-being in the future.