Ballett Frankfurt

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Ballett Frankfurt was a contemporary ballet company based in Frankfurt am Main in Hesse, Germany, known for its radical reworking of classical ballet vocabulary under the leadership of William Forsythe. The company operated from institutions tied to Oper Frankfurt and premiered works at venues such as the Schauspielhaus Frankfurt and the Alte Oper Frankfurt, engaging with choreographers, composers, and visual artists across Europe and North America. Ballett Frankfurt became a focal point in late 20th-century dance, intersecting with institutions like the Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Ballet, and festivals including the Salzburg Festival and Venice Biennale.

History

The ensemble traces antecedents to postwar companies in Germany and performance initiatives in Frankfurt am Main that involved collaborations with institutions like the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt and the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. During the 1970s and 1980s, similarly pioneering companies such as Ballet Frankfurt's contemporaries — Batsheva Dance Company, Martha Graham Ensemble, Merce Cunningham Dance Company and Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch — reshaped European stages. The arrival of William Forsythe in 1984 marked a decisive reorientation, following precedents set by figures like George Balanchine, Rudolf Nureyev, John Cranko, and institutions such as the Stuttgart Ballet. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the company toured widely, appearing at events including the Lincoln Center Festival, the BAM seasons, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the Munich Biennale, while engaging with directors from the Deutsches Schauspielhaus and stadttheaters across Germany.

Under the artistic direction of William Forsythe, the ensemble developed a repertoire that dialogued with scores by composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Ludwig van Beethoven, Arnold Schoenberg, György Ligeti, and contemporary collaborators like Alexei Aigui and Gavin Bryars. Forsythe’s works often referenced choreographic legacies from August Bournonville, Enrico Cecchetti, Serge Lifar, and Vaslav Nijinsky while interrogating spatial concepts associated with the Royal Danish Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet. Productions incorporated set and costume designers from the worlds of Robert Wilson, Frank Gehry, André Heller, and lighting designers linked to Tobias Melle and Jean Kalman. Signature works retooled classical narrative ballets in the spirit of reinterpretations by directors such as Peter Stein and drew on dramaturgy practiced at venues like the Schauspielhaus Zürich and the Volksbühne.

The company’s roster featured dancers who later joined or collaborated with companies including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, The Royal Ballet, and La Scala Theatre Ballet. Principal performers included artists trained in schools like the Royal Ballet School, the School of American Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet School, and the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt. Choreographers and guest artists associated with the company included Jirí Kylián, Ohad Naharin, William Forsythe (as resident creator), Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Shen Wei, Marco Goecke, Aleksandar Denić, Rei Terada, and Wim Vandekeybus. Collaborating répétiteurs and teachers had backgrounds linked to figures such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Kenneth MacMillan, Roland Petit, and Merce Cunningham.

Ballett Frankfurt engaged in co-productions with opera houses and festivals including the Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, the Kronborg Festival, and the Biennale di Venezia. International tours brought the company to major stages like the Sydney Opera House, Teatro Colón, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, the Civic Theatre Auckland, and venues in Beijing and Shanghai. Collaborative musical partners ranged from orchestras such as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and ensembles like Ensemble Modern and London Sinfonietta, and directors from the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Hamburgische Staatsoper facilitated staged works. The company participated in cultural exchanges with institutions including the British Council, the Goethe-Institut, UNESCO, and national ministries of culture.

Critics and scholars compared the company’s aesthetic to movements led by Pina Bausch, George Balanchine, Rudolf Laban, Maurice Béjart, and Jerome Robbins, generating debate in journals associated with Dance Theatre Journal, Ballet Review, The New York Times, Die Zeit, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Awards and honors connected to the company’s artists included recognitions from the Benois de la Danse, the Golden Mask, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and prizes administered by institutions such as the German Dance Prize. The company’s pedagogical and conceptual legacies influenced curricula at conservatories like the Juilliard School, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Codarts Rotterdam, and the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden, and informed repertory at companies including the Scandinavian Ballet Theatre and the National Ballet of Canada. Following the ensemble’s closure, archives and materials were acquired by repositories such as the Deutsches Tanzarchiv Köln, major museums including the Museum of Modern Art, and university collections tied to the University of Frankfurt and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Category:Dance companies in Germany