Reflections

Dance as a mirror
Associate Artist Alexei Ratmansky's poignant Solitude, set to music by Gustav Mahler, depicts the suffering caused by war. Young Canadian choreographer Kirsten Wicklund created a new ballet on gender equality to mark the celebration of 25 years of same-sex marriage in 2026. In Simple Things, master choreographer Hans van Manen zooms in on human relationships. Finally, with the sparkling classic Symphony in C, George Balanchine pays homage to the Franco-Russian ballet tradition in which he grew up.

Four choreographers, four visions
For *Solitude*, top choreographer Alexei Ratmansky drew inspiration from a newspaper photo of a Ukrainian father holding the hand of his son for hours, who had been killed in a Russian attack. Set to two Mahler compositions, Ratmansky manages to make universal human grief palpable through abstract, penetrating dance.

The young Canadian choreographer Kirsten Wicklund explores the theme of gender equality in her new work. The work is inspired by the celebration of 25 years of same-sex marriage in 2026. Wicklund draws on the musical ode, featuring vocal parts, that composer Willem Jeths dedicated to same-sex marriage in 2011. The vocal parts are performed by young singers from Dutch National Opera Studio.

In the vibrant opening and closing sections of Simple Things by Hans van Manen, two men spur each other on in two electrifying duets. In between, they are distracted by two women, who lure them into a fleeting romance. Movement and music come together magnificently in this dynamic dance quartet.

The fourth choreographer, George Balanchine, in fact spent his entire life reflecting on the purely classical French-Russian ballet style in which he was raised. Symphony in C is an homage to its splendour and grandeur, but Balanchine injects the dance with bite and swing, culminating in a finale that bubbles and sparkles like a glass of champagne.