The Opera presents Chroma, a piece by leading British contemporary choreographer Wayne McGergor for the first time in Hungary. The work by the artist known for his radical and innovative creations is presented in a triple-bill with two further productions equally unique and exciting: Bedroom Folk by the Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar along with Episode 31 by Alexander Ekman. The new Hungarian National Ballet show entitled Con-Tact(s) premieres on 29 October 2021 at the Eiffel Art Studios of the Hungarian State Opera.
Chroma by Wayne McGregor explores the drama of the human body and its ability to communicate extremes of thought and emotion. The one-act choreography is performed by four female and six male dancers to original music by Joby Talbot and his arrangements of music by American rock band The White Stripes combined with stark, minimalist designs by architect John Pawson. Commissioned by the Royal Ballet, Chroma was first presented at the Royal Opera House, London in 2006. In the following season it was awarded the most prestigious Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production. Since its London premiere, McGregor's piece has been staged by the most outstanding companies all around the world including San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet Moscow, and the Dutch National Ballet. The Hungarian National Ballet production was staged by Jessica Wright, the double cast features Inès Furuhashi-Huber, Yourim Lee, Ellina Pokhodnykh, Yuki Wakabayashi, Gaetano Cottonaro, Iurii Kekalo, András Rónai, Ryosuke Morimoto, Théo Bourg, and Carlos Taravillo Mahillo as well as Adema Omarova, Nadezhda Sorokina, Lea Földi, Miyu Takamori, Valerio Palumbo, Noel Ágoston Kovács, Dávid Molnár, Takaaki Okajima, Riku Yamamoto, and Federico Berardi under the supervision of company répétiteur Edit Rujsz and principal coaches Antione Vereecken & Odette Hughes.
The second part of the programme is a piece created for the Nederlands Dans Theater in 2015 by Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, artists well-known in Hungary through their company L-E-V. Bedroom Folk was first presented by the Hungarian National Ballet in 2018. Now it returns to the stage under company répétiteur Marianna Venekei performed by a double cast: Yuka Asai, Miyu Takamori, Artemisz Pisla, Aglaja Sawatzki, Iurii Kekalo, Kristina Starostina, Francesco Sardella, Dávid Molnár / Viktória Barbara Rohonczi, Nadezhda Sorokina, Anita Tiffany Pesel, Ágnes Kelemen, Dénes Darab, Maksym Kovtun, Carlos Taravillo Mahillo.
The show also sees the revival of the spectacular Episode 31 originally created for graduating class of The Juilliard School in New York City by Alexander Ekman. The choreographer combined the two casts of this energetic piece full of joy and rhythm to create a special version for the Budapest audience in 2019. With Marianna Venekei at the helm again, the production features András Rónai, Motomi Kiyota, Francesco Sardella, Dávid Molnár, Dénes Darab, Dmitry Zhukov, Nadezhda Sorokina, Adrienn Pap, Kristóf Morvai and Iurii Kekalo.
Following the opening night on 29 October 2021, the modern ballet show Con-Tact(s) can also be seen on 30 & 31 October, 6, 7 & 11 November 2021 at the Eiffel Art Studios of the Hungarian State Opera.
Photo by János Kummer (Chroma rehearsal)
