If you were God

Including the wide range of currents within contemporary dance in the season’s programme is a central objective in the programmatic planning of Ballet Director and Chief Choreographer Mario Schröder, beside the great dramatic ballets, the choreographic investigation of exceptional artists like Chaplin or van Gogh or choreographies to the great works of choir literature. This season, the stage of Schauspiel Leipzig will serve as the location for these productions without an orchestra for the third time, producing a different kind of proximity with the audience.

French choreographer Martin Harriague will be at the centre of this production. He began his career as a dancer with Thierry Malandain, whose choreography “Don Juan / Mozart à deux” was celebrated in Leipzig. After several other stations, his time with the Kibbutz Dance Company was a decisive experience. In parallel to working as a dancer, he started to create his own dance pieces, sometimes composing the music himself. He won several awards for emerging artists in Stuttgart, Hannover and Copenhagen among others and was invited to the Malandain Ballet Biarritz. The 31-year-old choreographer places great importance on reaching people directly and on changing established perspectives on life through contemporary dance. He sees his choreographies as “messages of hope, love, tolerance and respect.”