Reflektor Sasha Waltz
»I think about space before I think about movement« – this is how world-renowned choreographer Sasha Waltz describes the foundation of her art, with which she has written a defining chapter in modern German dance history. For her, nothing is merely a backdrop: space, light, music and bodies each tell their own story, sometimes through high-energy movement, sometimes through their mere presence. She shares a special connection with the Elbphilharmonie: even before its official opening on 11 January 2017, she staged a performance in the foyers with more than 80 musicians and dancers, bringing the spectacular architecture to life – »a firework of music and dance,« as she described it. For the Elbphilharmonie’s tenth anniversary, Sasha Waltz now returns with her company for a long weekend she has curated herself – appearing on stage twice: in an intimate encounter with cellist Anastasia Kobekina and Bach’s cello suites, and, together with a group of dancers, in »for the time being«, a radical focus on the present moment set to the live generated soundscapes of experimental composer Diego Noguera.
On two evenings, she brings the explosive force of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 to the stage. In the project »Fluence«, dance enters into a spontaneous, partly improvised dialogue with music, this time spanning works from across the centuries. Also featured in the »Reflektor« programme is the post-industrial band The Young Gods, who join Waltz’s company to revive Terry Riley’s »In C«, which received standing ovations in the Grand Hall of the Elbphilharmonie in 2024 and now returns for a powerful festival finale. Audiences experience all of this up close, sometimes in the midst of the action, or, as in the work of Ayumi Paul, even as an integral part of the performance.
