An exciting encounter across cultures and continents.
Every festival, schrit_tmacher presents an interpretation of the iconic Le Sacre du printemps (The Spring Sacrifice). In 1913, with this important milestone in dance, Igor Stravinsky and Vaslav Nijinksy broke with all the laws of classical ballet. During schrit_tmacher 2022, this series will feature The Sacrifice by the equally pioneering South African choreographer Dada Masilo and The Dance Factory.
Because of her fascination for dance forms from African culture and her knowledge of contemporary dance and classical ballet, Dada Masilo is one of the most striking choreographers of the moment. We saw her earlier in 2019 when she opened schrit_tmacher with a new, exciting version of Giselle. She has received worldwide praise for this with Swan Lake, in which she combines classical dance with the ‘high-speed’ dance that is characteristic of her with contemporary dance forms from African culture.
An exciting performance
The Sacrifice is based on the original of Le Sacre du printemps about a young virgin who is sacrificed to the god of Spring. Dada felt a strong affinity between Stravinsky’s complex music, Nijinksy’s ecstatic ballet and the challenging rhythms of the Tswanadans, a ritual dance from Botswana. In The Sacrifice she unites rhythms and cultures in a stirring encounter across continents and cultures. The jazzy music is written by Jazz pianist Paul Hanmer.
Universal dance language
The South African Dada Masilo received her dance training in Brussels, among other places, at the prestigious P.A.R.T.S of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. After two years she missed the sun so much that she returned to her native country to start her own dance group. Since then she has been creating her work at the exciting crossroads of Western, classical and African dance, bringing different influences together in a universal dance style.
Source: PLT Website