Family workshop
To prepare the visit to the opera, participants are introduced to the plot as well as important characters, and they also rehearse short dance scenes. Valid only in combination with a visit to a family performance.
Registration required
Tel: 030 34 384-166
E-mail: contact@tanz-ist-klasse.de
«Symmetry is always interesting to me when you break away from it.»
Christian Spuck in conversation with Katja Wiegand
Katja Wiegand (KW) The title Fearful Symmetries is inspired by a line from William Blake’s poem The Tyger. John Adams was not drawn to the title itself, but rather to the combination of words in that line. What aspects of his composition particularly appealed to you?
Christian Spuck (CS) What defines this music is its symmetry. The rhythm often shifts between 8/8 and 4/4 time. Fearful Symmetries was composed after the success of Nixon in China and, with its theatricality, it recalls The Chairman Dances. The structure of the music is incredibly consistent: a minimalist rhythm is introduced that drives the entire piece. On this rhythmic foundation, new orchestrations, motifs, and climaxes unfold, which makes it exciting for the orchestra. In the end, the rhythm dissolves into a quiet epilogue, possessing a floating lightness. This consistency and theatricality almost demand a choreography. The music evokes images and creates an atmosphere that lends itself to a stage production. For composer John Adams, these are primarily associations with the metropolis.
KW Does this urban character reflect in your choreography?
CS The music drives forward like life in a metropolis, while simultaneously evoking images of technology and modernity. The precise rhythm, combined with the complex instrumentation, reminds me of the complexity of life, of contrasts between hustle and moments of quiet. But it’s not about depicting this on stage. I want to make these contrasts tangible on stage by utilising the dynamic of the music. This forward momentum can also be a kind of experimental setup or an attempt at explanation. The piece pairs wonderfully with Symphony in C by George Balanchine to the music of Georges Bizet, a work that is also strongly defined by symmetry. We’re presenting both works as part of a double bill.
KW How do you approach a purely instrumental work like Fearful Symmetries—narratively or abstractly?
CS I’m currently playing with the idea of working with a small group of figures representing something narrative, while a large ensemble interacts abstractly with the music. For me, the music has something majestic, something royal. I think of various queens of the past, not in a biographical sense, but as an inspiration for the question of power structures. Power has a fascinating but also destructive force—this is also reflected in the music. It drives relentlessly forward, like a whirlpool, but ends in a calm that almost feels like after a crash. It is this tension that, for me, forms the core of the music, and which I want to express choreographically.
KW How can the theme of power be made tangible for the audience?
CS I’m especially interested in its ambivalence—its pull, but also the destructive consequences. It’s a challenging topic, particularly in our time, where the power of individual people is once again very present. I’m fascinated by how power structures can be represented on stage without them appearing flat or one-dimensional. It’s less about concrete stories, and more about creating emotional and symbolic images that make the complexity of power tangible. John Adams’ music carries that pull within its structure, and its driving energy and unexpected twists give me a feeling of both control and loss of control simultaneously.
KW What challenges come with choreographing such a well-known, rhythmically intense work?
CS The music demands a stage realisation that is responding to it while also offering a strong counterpoint. The rhythmic precision of the music requires that the dancers be technically highly skilled. At the same time, the choreography must create an emotional entry point that makes the complexity and power of the music tangible for an audience. It’s exciting to create something new that interprets the music in unexpected ways.
KW How do personal experiences or your artistic background influence your interpretation of this work?
CS I’ve known this composition for a long time and have always found it exciting. It’s thoroughly inspiring and means a lot to me. It challenges me to make its complexity visible on stage. The music offers so many layers that it constantly evokes new inspiration in me and the dancers.
KW What does symmetry mean to you as an artist, both in life and in art?
CS Symmetry is most exciting for me as an artist when it is disturbed or when you move away from it. In Baroque times, symmetry was an expression of aesthetics and order. Today, I find it interesting to look at a functioning, symmetrical system and intentionally disturb and change it. This way, it’s questioned and brought to life. The dynamic between order and chaos, between perfection and imperfection, is something that always fascinates me. It also reflects a fundamental artistic process: shaping, destroying, and recreating. Something that appears absolutely symmetrical and perfect is often not real.
KW What constitutes the ballet evening Fearful Symmetries?
CS The focus of this evening is on the virtuosity of dance. The evening begins with Symphony in C by George Balanchine, one of his masterpieces, known for its technical precision, artistic virtuosity, and brilliant use of symmetry. Set to the music of Georges Bizet, this piece embodies complexity and symmetry in its highest form. My new creation, Fearful Symmetries, to the composition of John Adams, also engages with symmetry, highlighting the fragility of perceived balance. This evening invites the audience to experience dance at its most virtuosic while simultaneously exploring the depth and complexity of symmetric structures and their inherent fragility.
Taken from the 25/26 season booklet.