Gauthier Dance Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart

Première

Wed June 22 at 8 p.m., T1, Theaterhaus Stuttgart

Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart

Lucky Seven

A production by Theaterhaus Stuttgart in co-production with Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and in co-operation with Schauburg Munich

Choreographies by Mauro Bigonzetti, Alejandro Cerrudo, Eric Gauthier, Eric Gauthier & Catarina Mora, Jiří Kylián, Paul Lightfoot & Sol León, Hans van Manen

A warm thank you to the sponsors of Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart: Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, Fashion- und Lifestylehaus Breuninger Stuttgart as well as to the supporters Germanwings GmbH, Dr. Stefan von Holtzbrinck, the John Cranko Society and the Friends and First Friends of Gauthier Dance.

Lucky Seven is sponsored by the Baden-Wuerttemberg Foundation.

Artistic Director / Choreographer: Eric Gauthier

Company Coach: Egon Madsen

Ballet Master: Renato Arismendi

Artistic Direction Set & Costume Design: Gudrun Schretzmeier

Lighting Design and Technical Co-ordination: Mario Daszenies

Dancers: Armando Braswell, Maria Deller-Takemura, Eric Gauthier, Rosario Guerra, Björn Helget, Marianne Illig, William Moragas, Garazi Perez Oloriz, Isabelle Pollet-Villard, Anna Süheyla Harms

A sort of magic: The programmes with a number in their title have brought luck to Gauthier Dance. Ever since they started out with SIX PACK in 2008, the dance company of Theaterhaus Stuttgart has never stopped moving upwards. With five works by international star choreographers and two by Artistic Director Eric Gauthier, Lucky Seven continues the successful series.

Lickety-split

Choreography: Alejandro Cerrudo / Music: Devendra Banhart / Costume Design: Alejandro Cerrudo & Rebecca Shouse / Lighting Design: Ryan O’Gara

In spite of its dynamic title, Lickety-split comes with a distinctly relaxed, humorous touch. Set to the hypnotic music of Californian indie songwriter Devendra Banhart, shooting star Alejandro Cerrudo, Resident Choreographer of Hubbard Street Dance Company Chicago, acts out the encounter of three couples – very sensual, very sophisticated and with a slightly eccentric flair.

The Old Man and Me

Choreography: Hans van Manen / Music: J.J. Cale, Igor Stravinsky, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Lighting Design: Joop Cabort / Set & Costume Design: Keso Dekker

Originally created in 1996 for dance legends Sabine Kupferberg and Gérard Lemaître of Nederlands Dans Theater 3, this choreography has become one of Hans van Manen's signature pieces and was taken up by a number of big companies for their principal dancers. Deeply sad and comic at the same time, this duo centres on two lovers who can neither be together – nor apart.

Punk Love – world première

Choreography: Eric Gauthier / Music: Stephan M. Boehme / Set & Costume Design: Gudrun Schretzmeier / Lighting Design: Mario Daszenies / Dramaturgy: Rebecca Egeling

Eric Gauthier's new choreography explores the secret connection between abandonment and pain in a powerful, sensual duo: What happens when I surrender to another's touch – a touch which will inevitably leave permanent traces in my body?

Shutters Shut

Choreography, Set & Costume Design: Paul Lightfoot & Sol León / Music: If I told him: A completed portrait of Picasso. A poem written and read by Gertrude Stein / Lighting Design: Tom Bevoort

A choreography playing with the rhythms of speech, accompanied by the voice of Gertrude Stein reciting one of her poems. The poet's weird, dadaistic character finds its perfect match in the stuttering, repeatedly resumed movements of a pair of dancers: breathless, bizarre and totally absorbing.

Pietra Viva – world première

Choreography & Costume Design: Mauro Bigonzetti / Music: Antongiulio Galeandro / Lighting Design: Carlo Cerri

Mauro Bigonzetti, Principal Choreographer and, for many years, Artistic Director of Aterballetto, ranks among the most important contemporary choreographers. His celebrated body twisting choreography Pression belongs to the repertoire of Gauthier Dance. To Eric Gauthier's great delight, Bigonzetti now contributes a real world première to the Lucky Seven programme.

Carlito – word première

Choreography: Eric Gauthier & Catarina Mora / Music: Mariano Martín / Costume Design: Gudrun Schretzmeier / Lighting Design: Mario Daszenies / Dramaturgy: Rebecca Egeling

Carlito was created in collaboration with the acclaimed choreographer Catarina Mora who is known for her unique fusion of traditional flamenco with modern elements. The new solo featuring Eric Gauthier himself deals with a truly vital issue – a new life.

Six Dances

Choreography, Set & Costume Design: Jiří Kylián / Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Lighting Design: Joop Cabort

Jiří Kylián took Mozart at his word and turned his Six German Dances KV 571 into a real dance piece for four rococo pairs. Ostensibly a humorous, playful pastoral, Six Dances offers more than a hint of Dangerous Liaisons-style depths – like a foreshadow of revolution in the midst of Arcadia.

Administration: Aglaja Koch

Stage Management: Holger Reuker

Sound: Philip Kannicht, Ruben Hauf, Patrick Hummler

Stage Crew: Lorenz Uhlig, Holger Reuker, Thomas Junger

Head of Wardrobe: Carmen Schmötzer

Wardrobe: Heidi Davila Garcia, Kerry Rees

The sets and costumes were made in the Theaterhaus workshops.

Tour Management:

Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart

Gauthier Dance is a young, dynamic company of eight highly individual, versatile dancers, directed by the dancer, choreographer and musician Eric Gauthier. As the Resident Dance Company of the Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Gauthier Dance presents contemporary dance by Gauthier and internationally acclaimed choreographers such as Mauro Bigonzetti, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Itzik Galili, Paul Lightfoot/Sol León and Hans van Manen. Gauthier who, in February 2011, was awarded the German Dance Prize »Future« 2011 for choreography, is known for his highly original, humorous choreographies. Founded in October 2007, Gauthier Dance has quickly become one of Germany's hottest up and coming contemporary dance companies with extensive national and international touring activities. The British specialist magazine Dance Europe voted Christian Spuck's POPPEA//POPPEA, the company's first full-length piece, one of the top 10 productions of the 2009/10 season. Gauthier Dance is very much dedicated to breaking new ground. Their programme Out of the Box II included a stereoscopic version of Gauthier's choreography Threesome which was also screened as a supporting film to Wim Wenders' PINA and seen by more than 40,000 German arthouse cinemagoers. In addition to sold out performances at home, Gauthier Dance undertakes an extensive Educational and Community Outreach programme, the first of its kind in Germany: Gauthier Dance Mobile. With a specially tailored repertory of works which can be presented in small performing spaces, Gauthier Dance Mobile brings contemporary dance to children and teens in community centres as well as to a segment of our society which would otherwise have no opportunity to enjoy this art form.

The Theaterhaus Stuttgart, which opened its doors in 1985, is a unique cultural center which presents theatre, music, dance, cabaret, comedy, literature, political discussions and more on a total of four stages. The Theaterhaus has a long tradition of producing and presenting dance-theatre; best known are the collaborations between Marcia Haydée and Ismail Ivo. The Theaterhaus has also traditionally been and continues to be, a venue for the free-lance dance scene in Stuttgart. Gauthier Dance is the first resident contemporary dance company in Stuttgart.

More information:

Press Relations: Nicola Steller, , phone ++49-7156-350616

Theaterhaus Stuttgart is sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Bank.