With Symphony No 7 by the late German choreographer Uwe Scholz (1958-2004), the dancers enter into a symbiotic relationship with Beethoven’s imposing music. The work becomes a leitmotif, with its athletic prowess and unison dance geometry. Presented for the first time as the opening of the 2017 season, it instantly captured the hearts of Montrealers.
Structured in four movements that form a succession of different colors and rhythms, Beethoven’s Symphony No 7 was first performed in 1813 during the terrible period of the Napoleonic Wars. Named by Richard Wagner as «the apotheosis of dance», Symphony No 7 fascinates with both its rigorous classicism and its energy.
Uwe Scholz, who was director of dance at the Leipzig Opera, enjoyed creating choreography for grand symphonic works. During his short life, he choreographed around a hundred pieces for major European companies. His highly complex choreographic adaptation of the Seventh, originally created for the Stuttgart Ballet, is considered his masterpiece. It attests to his finesse, inventiveness and exceptional musicality.
Length: 50 minutes.
Artistic Direction: Ivan Cavallari
Choreography: Uwe Scholz
Assistant to the Choreographer: Roser Munoz
Adaptation: Ivan Cavallari
Sets and Costumes: Uwe Scholz
Lighting: Marc Parent
Music: Ludwig van Beethoven
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec.
Spain Manager: Ysarca Art Promotions-Pilar de Yzaguirre
* The music is not performed live. Recording of Carlos Kleiber with Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon, 20th feb 1995)
Cast
First movement
Rachele Buriassi and Esnel Ramos (27), Yui Sugawara and Célestin Boutin (28)
with
Aurora De Mori and Marcel Gutiérrez (27), Anya Nesvitaylo and Graeme Fuhrman (28)
Kiara DeNae Felder and James Lyttle (27), Calista Shepheard and Felixovich Morante (28)
and the company
Second movement
Maude Sabourin and Graeme Fuhrman (27), Tetyana Martyanova and Thomas Leprohon (28)
with
Tetyana Martyanova and James Lyttle (27), Sofía González and James Lyttle (28)
Calista Shepheard and Felixovich Morante (27), Anaïs Roy and Felixovich Morante (28)
and the company
Third movement
Angel Vizcaíno and Bernard Dubois II (27), Angel Vizcaíno and Raphaël Bouchard (28)
with
Sarah Branch and Étienne Delorme (27), Kiara DeNae Felder and Antoine Benjamin Bertran (28)
Carrigan MacDonald and Antoine Benjamin Bertran (27), Alexandra Eccles and Étienne Delorme (28)
and the company
Fourth movement
Esnel Ramos and Anna Ishii (27), Célestin Boutin and Mai Kono (28)
with
Angel Vizcaíno and Raphaël Bouchard (27), Angel Vizcaíno and Raphaël Bouchard (28)
Anya Nesvitaylo and Kiara DeNae Felder (27), Anya Nesvitaylo and Kiara DeNae Felder (28)
and the company
Please note that the cast is subject to change up until the start of the performance.
Choreography, sets and costumes: Uwe Scholz
Introduction
Uwe Scholz was born in Jugenheim, Germany, on December 31, 1958. At the tender age of 4 he took up ballet classes. Two years later he moved on to the Landestheater Darmstadt for training. At that time he also started piano lessons. He began to train his singing voice at the State Academy of Musical Art in Darmstadt. Later on he also took up violin and guitar classes.
Career
Ten-year-old Uwe Scholz dreamt of becoming a conductor. Nevertheless, a growing fascination for the multitudinous ways of expression in dance seemed to prevail. At the age of 13 - and one month before Jon Cranko’s tragic death -, he was admitted to the Stuttgart Ballet School.
It was Marcia Haydée above all who became his lifelong mentor. She started, influenced, and shaped his artistic career. 1976 saw Uwe Scholz’ first choreography Serenade for 5+1 with music by Mozart. Uwe Scholz then worked in London. He received a scholarship grant for the prestigious Balanchine School of American Ballet in New York. In 1977, he returned to the John Cranko Academy in Stuttgart to pass his exams in 1979.
Uwe Scholz moved on to become a dancer with the Stuttgart Ballet. From the very beginning of his dancing career Marcia Haydée entrusted him with a range of choreographic assignments. In 1980, Uwe Scholz became resident choreographer with the Stuttgart Ballet. He concluded his dancing career except for a much noticed solo in a choreography by Maurice Béjart. In the years to come Uwe Scholz not only produced choreographies for ballet. He was also an opera director (Testimonium Festival in Israel, and The Magic Flute in Nuremberg), a choreographer for opera (with Lovro von Matacic, and also with Hans Neuenfels for Aida in Frankfurt), and an Assistant Director for film and drama (with Heyme).
At the age of 26, Uwe Scholz became artistic director and chief choreographer of the Zurich Ballet. After 6 years in Zurich, he returned to Germany to build and shape the Leipzig Ballet until his tragic and untimely death in 2004. During his impressive career Uwe Scholz created more than 100 choregraphic works. His main focus was always the score... He loved works by Bach, Bruckner, Mozart, Wagner, Schumann, Schubert, Stravinsky, and Bartok as much as contemporary compositions by Udo Zimmermann and Pierre Boulez.
Awards
For his lifetime achievements Uwe Scholz was awarded the Ommagio Alla Danza of the Dance Organisation Espressione Europa in Venice in 1987. In 1996 he was presented with the German Cross of Merit by the then German Federal President Roman Herzog. For his choreography The Great Mass (premiere 1998 in Leipzig) he was awarded the Theaterpreis of the Bavarian State Government in 1998. Uwe Scholz also received the German Dance Award in Essen in 1999.