Tanzwege - documentary about Heinz Spoerli

[volcanohunter]

Tanzwege, a documentary about choreographer Heinz Spoerli made in 1993, is available on the EuroArts YouTube channel. Hopefully it isn't blocked in the U.S.

 

The film is in German, but even if you don't understand the language, the film is made up primarily of performance and rehearsal footage from Spoerli's ballet to the Goldberg Variations, and Spoerli is seen conducting his rehearsals mostly in English.

 

 

[sandik]

Thanks for this.  I'm always interested in seeing how people respond to this music, which is so danceable, and yet such a challenge.  Mark Haim, a contemporary choreographer who sometimes works in Seattle, made a solo for himself to the variations, almost like an endurance test (though the work didn't have that dark feeling). 

[volcanohunter]

13 hours ago, sandik said:

Mark Haim, a contemporary choreographer who sometimes works in Seattle, made a solo for himself to the variations, almost like an endurance test

 

Oh my! I'll bet it was an endurance test. What an ambitious undertaking.

[sandik]

It's actually quite charming.  Some of the variations were highly eccentric (one was standing on a turntable and spitting water like a statue, one was running around the theater, in and out of doors, one was just laying on his back, so that we all spent time listening to the music) while others were intensely dancey.  He staged another version of it here, using several dancers, and alternated evenings between that and the solo performance.  It was a fascinating contrast.