BAUHAUS BALLETS

Year & Premiere

1987 / 2015 / 2017

Anniversary programme — 30 years TdK

THE PROJECT

THEATER DER KLÄNGE began in 1987 with its very first project: a new interpretation of the “Mechanical Ballet”, documented by two photographs, a reverse glass painting, and a brief description in the book “Die Bühne am Bauhaus” (1923). No blueprints for the five depicted figurines and no choreographic sketches existed in any archive. So J.U. Lensing created an entirely new choreography to a commissioned composition by Hanno Spelsberg – with reconstructed figurines. The costumes, assembled from complex interlocking geometric surfaces, transform the dancers into cubist-looking figurines, whose movements remain mechanical and deliberate as the title demands, yet gradually “humanise” and dance freely by the end. The music is a blend of stylistic quotations from the 1920s – automaton-like, rigid, minimalist, yet also groovy and jazzy.

“Das mechanische Ballett” was an immediate success with audiences and on tour at the end of the 1980s. Nearly 200 performances have followed since – in theatres throughout Germany and abroad: in France, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Greece, Russia, Israel and India. To this day, THEATER DER KLÄNGE is the only ensemble in the world to have newly created this ballet and to perform it live.

In 2014, the rights to Oskar Schlemmer’s “Triadic Ballet” entered the public domain. THEATER DER KLÄNGE then began work on a new interpretation of the figurines in collaboration with costume designer Caterina Di Fiore and with the participation of Udo Lensing: newly designed costumes, a new choreography by Jacqueline Fischer and J.U. Lensing, and a newly commissioned score by Thomas Wansing for piano, cello and percussion. Schlemmer’s bizarre and grotesque costumes – the very lifeblood of the piece – were newly built and sewn for the performance series. People in geometrically oriented garments become game pieces, automata, parodies, fantasy creatures and artistic refractions of damaged bodies. The choreography accentuates the circus-like character; the music unfolds a kaleidoscope ranging from romantic schmaltz to circus sounds to hard rock – with a touch of Dada.

In 2017, the anniversary programme bauhaus ballette united both productions on stage together for the first time – with live music – at the Capitol Theater Düsseldorf, on the occasion of THEATER DER KLÄNGE’s 30th anniversary. For the occasion, Christian Forsen, in collaboration with Caterina Di Fiore and following intensive research into the surviving original Schlemmer figurines, created an entirely new set of figurines closely modelled on the originals. A premiere in the double sense of the word: the first time together on one stage, with figurines true to the originals, and simultaneously a touring offer for the years ahead – especially against the backdrop of the “100 Years Bauhaus” activities in 2019 and beyond.

“Even in their very first production 28 years ago, the Düsseldorf group THEATER DER KLÄNGE established themselves as Bauhaus experts. With their production “TRIAS” they build on this – and indeed, one can hardly imagine a better remake of the Triadic Ballet than their magnificent adaptation. A contemporary, self-reflective Meta-Schlemmer – yet also a loving historical homage.”

NICOLE STRECKER, DEUTSCHLANDFUNK