Some forty dancers are tackling the double programme on Saturday and Sunday, with Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven) and Cantata.

 

The Auditorio de Tenerife offers two large-scale dance performances with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. The Montreal company will be performing this Saturday (27th) and Sunday (28th) at the Symphony Hall at 8:00 p.m. Based on classical ballet, some forty dancers perform a double programme consisting of the performances of Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven) and Cantata.

The double programme opens with Symphony No 7, a choreography by the multi-award-winning German dancer Uwe Scholz, who passed away in 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. The dance proposal is structured in four movements that form a succession of different colours and rhythms.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 was first performed in 1813 during the period of the Napoleonic Wars. The piece is named by Richard Wagner as "the apotheosis of dance" and fascinates with its rigorous classicism and its energy. The recording that can be heard during the performance in the Auditorio de Tenerife is by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Carlos Kleiber (Deutsche Grammophon, 1995).

After a short intermission, the Cantata, by Italian choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti, will begin. With its visceral, passionate gestural language, this piece evokes rugged Mediterranean beauty and embraces the colours of the South. Instinctive and vital, the dance explores the multiple facets of relationships between men and women, from seduction and passion to quarrels and jealousy. The voices and music of the four on-stage singers draw the ten pairs of dancers into the festive working-class atmosphere of Southern Italy, to the sounds of the tambourine and castanets.

Cantata pays homage to Italian culture and its musical tradition. The piece is inspired by Italian music from the 18th and 19th centuries, from lullabies to the pizziche of Salento, and with a nod to Neapolitan serenades. This heritage comes to life on stage through the performance of four singers and musicians, accompanying the dancers to the sound of frame drums and the diatonic button accordion. They interpret traditional Neapolitan songs that immerse the public in the atmosphere of Southern Italy.

As a creation and production company, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens is devoted to developing dance in all its forms, building on the discipline of classical ballet. Under the artistic direction of Ivan Cavallari, some forty Canadian and international dancers bring the great classics of ballet to the stage, as well as the creations and repertoire of established and emerging contemporary artists.

Located in the heart of Montréal's Quartier des spectacles, Les Grands Ballets is committed to giving to as many people as possible access to dance, whether through the Nutcracker Fund for Children, leisure activities in the Grands Ballets Studios or with the National Centre for Dance Therapy (NCDT), which is devoted to greater wellbeing through the benefits of dance. Through the excellence of its productions and the scope of its cultural and social actions, the company seeks to inspire discovery and conjure emotions, stimulate the imagination, convey a passion for dance and create a lasting impact.

The tickets for both performances can be purchased at a single price of €20 and 5 euros for the audience under 30 years of age on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com, at the auditorium's box office, or by dialling the phone number 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There are discounts for students, unemployed and large families.