VIVALDI, MOZART, WAGNER, STRAUSS, STRAVINSKY, REICH…

In ten years working as a conductor for a dance company and with the notable exception of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, none of the pieces of music that we interpreted had been composed for dancing. Religious music by Vivaldi or Mozart’s piano concertos, for example, directly dismissed dance from the original concept. This fact constitutes in itself a declaration of principles.

Designing choreography to music that has not been specifically composed for ballet has its peculiarities. The most important trait perhaps is that dance becomes independent of its narrative function. When the whole mechanism is relieved from telling a particular story, the dance ties into the music in a more detailed manner. Even in a sequence of two simple notes, a complex series of movements can be found. Then the musical pulse requires a precision unknown to classical ballet. In each of the productions listed below, it seemed that the dance, to quote Théophile Gautier’s famous phrase, made the music visible.

PRODUCTION CREDITS (selection)

Self
Conductor: Pedro Alcalde
Orquesta: Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid

Music: Alberto Iglesias
Self
Choreography: Nacho Duato
Set and Costumes: Nacho Duato

Premiered by the Compañía Nacional de Danza at the Palacio de Festivales, Santander, on the 17th of April 1997. Rerun at the Teatro Real, Madrid, the 5th of November 1999

Symphony Of Psalms
Conductor: Pedro Alcalde
Orquesta: Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid
Chorus: Coro de Valencia (Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana)

Music: Igor Stravinsky:
Symphonie des Psaumes
Choreography: Jirí Kylián
Set: William Katz
Costumes: Joop Stokvis
Lighting: Joop Caboort

Premiered by the Compañía Nacional de Danza at the Teatro Real, Madrid, on the 5th of November 1999

Raptus
Conductor: Pedro Alcalde
Orquesta: Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid
Mezzosoprano: Marina Pardo

Music: Richard Wagner
Wesendonck-Lieder
Choreography: Nacho Duato
Set: Walter Nobbe
Costumes: Nacho Duato
Lighting: Joop Caboort

Premiered by the Compañía Nacional de Danza at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, on the 22nd of November 1996. Rerun at the Teatro Real, Madrid, on the 13th of October 2000

Lamento
Conductor: Pedro Alcalde
Orquesta: Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid

Music: Henryk Górecki
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs nr. 3 (Symfonia pieśni żałosnych), op. 36
Choreography: Nacho Duato
Set: Walter Nobbe
Costumes: Nacho Duato
Lighting: Edward Effron

Premiered by the Compañía Nacional de Danza at the Teatro Real, Madrid, on the 13th of September 2000

Petite Mort
Conductor: Pedro Alcalde
Orchestra: Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid
Piano: Albert Guinovart

Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto in A Major KV 488, Piano Concerto in C Major KV 467
Choreography: Jirí Kylián
Costumes: Joke Visser
Lighting: Joop Caboort
Staging: Roslyn Anderson

Premiered by the Compañía Nacional de Danza at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria, Santander, on the 16th of November 1995. Rerun at the Teatro Real, Madrid, on the 18th of May 2001

Perpetuum
Conductor: Pedro Alcalde
Orchestra: Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid

Music: Johann Strauss II
Waltzes and Polkas
Choreography: Ohad Naharin
Set: Arik Levi
Costumes: Rakefet Levy
Lighting: Avi Yona Bueno
Staging: Yoshifumi Inao and Adi Salant

Premiered by the Compañía Nacional de Danza at the Teatro Real, Madrid, on the 30th of April 2003

Castrati
Conductor: Pedro Alcalde
Orchestra: Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid
Contra-tenor: Carlos Mena

Music: Antonio Vivaldi, Karl Jenkins
Nisi Dominus RV 608; Stabat Mater RV 621; Salve Regina RV 616; Concerto RV 439 “La notte”
Palladio
Choreography: Nacho Duato
Set: Jaffar Chalabi
Costumes: Francis Montesinos
Lighting: Brad Fields

Premiered by the Compañía Nacional de Danza at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria, Santander, on the 5th of April 2002. Rerun at the Teatro Real, Madrid, the 30th of April 2003

Falling Angels
Conductor: Pedro Alcalde
Orchestra: Soloists from the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid

Music: Steve Reich
Drumming
Choreography: Jirí Kylián
Set: Jirí Kylián
Costumes: Joke Visser
Lighting: Joop Caboort
Staging: Roslyn Andersson

Premiered by the Compañía Nacional de Danza at the Teatro Real, Madrid, on the 25th of May 2004

White Darkness
Conductor: Pedro Alcalde
Orchestra: Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid

Music: Karl Jenkins
Adiemus Variations, Adiemus Songs of Sanctuary, String Quartet nr. 2
Choreography: Nacho Duato
Set: Jaffar Chalabi
Costumes: Lourdes Frías
Lighting: Joop Caboort

Premiered by the Compañía Nacional de Danza at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, on the 16th of November 2001. Rerun at the Teatro Real, Madrid, on the 25th of May 2004