Celebrating the legacy of Bach through modern movement

In homage to the legendary German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and his countless masterpieces, the Universal Ballet Korea will be staging its upcoming production of “Multiplicity, Forms of Silence and Emptiness.”

Devoted to the retelling of Bach’s life and death through a two-act modern ballet, “Multiplicity, Forms of Silence and Emptiness” is the brainchild of artistic director and choreographer Nacho Duato of the Staatsballett in Berlin.

According to the director, the production is an expression of Bach’s music made by intertwining the technical complexities of classical ballet and the artistic vibrancy of contemporary dance.
 

The ballet, which won the Best Choreography award at the prestigious Benois de la Danse in 2000, will feature a total of 22 strategically selected Bach compositions, including “Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1,” “ARIA” from the Goldberg Variations and “Per Motum Contrarium.”

“Bach’s music has given so much inspiration to many, but in terms of ballet productions, not all his compositions are suitable,” Duato said in a statement to the Universal Ballet.

“For example, I intentionally avoid selecting church choir music like his requiems or songs for Mass.”

The ballet’s first act, “Multiplicity,” is a choreographic reflection of Bach’s many masterpieces. Considered as the lighter conception more celebratory of his life, the first half features a wide array of choreographic variations highlighting his multitude of musical works.

The second part of the ballet, “Forms of Silence and Emptiness,” takes a much darker approach as it is a prelude to his death and is entirely focused on the incomplete works of Bach’s “The Art of Fugue.” Dealing with compositions from the final decades of Bach’s life, the production still approaches the foreshadowing of his death with the theme of “Life may be short, but art is forever.”

Dauto has stressed that for his ballet, the main focus was not to be one-sided and placing more emphasis on wanting to highlight the music more than the choreography, or vice versa. Rather, his goal was to express how Bach’s scores could still be captured in modern dance.

“As opposed to people saying that they have a much better understanding of Bach’s music after watching the ballet, I would rather have people watching the ballet and having the feeling of, ‘It’s as though Bach composed this music just for this production,’” he said.

The Universal Ballet’s “Multiplicity, Forms of Silence and Emptiness” will run March 19-22 at LG Arts Center in Seoul. Tickets range from 30,000 won to 100,000 won. For more information, visit www.universalballet.com.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)