Uwe Scholz, who died in 2004, is one of the most important choreographers in recent German history. He created more than 100 ballets to classical and modern music.
After the restaging of Pax Questuosa (Leipzig Ballet) and Dans la Marche / 1000 Grüße (Ballett Koblenz), the ballet company at Staatstheater Cottbus brought another two of Scholz’s works back to the stage as part of TANZFONDS ERBE.
In 1987, the then 28-year-old Scholz created two choreographies with Ballett Zürich: one to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s String Octet, namely the four-movement piece Oktett, which – associative in structure and romantic in style –repeatedly draws contrasts between men with women; and another to Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 2 for two pianos, namely the choreography Rachmaninow, in which the cumulative energy of the virtuoso clavier movement and the ironic play with musical conventions are suitably transposed into movement.
The restaging of the two pieces at Ballett Cottbus was led by the former Scholz dancers Christoph Böhm (Rachmaninow) and Roser Muñoz (Oktett).
A work by the Dutch choreographer Nils Christe completed the ballet evening, which was entitled Im Fluss der Zeit (In the Flow of Time).
RACHMANINOW
Choreography/stage/costume – Uwe Scholz
Production – Christoph Böhm
Music – Sergei Rachmaninoff: Suite No. 2, Op. 17, for two pianos
Dance – Greta Dato, Stefan Kulhawec and Alexander Teutscher
OKTETT
Choreography – Uwe Scholz
Stage/costume – Karl Lagerfeld
Production – Roser Muñoz
Music – Felix Mendelssohn Bartoldy: Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 20)
Dance – Lucy Van Cleef, Greta Dato, Jennifer Hebekerl, Gemma Pearce, Sara Pena, Denise Ruddock, Alexandra Urcia, Juan Bockamp, René Klötzer, Niko Ilias König, Yannick Neuffer, Glauber Mendes Silva, Alexander Deutscher, Martin Zanotti, Emily Downs and Momona Sakakibara
The choreologist trained in classical ballet at the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart where she became interested in in Benesh Notation. After completing her secondary education, she studied at the Benesh Institute in London, graduating as an Associate of the Institute of Choreology. From 1993, she worked under Uwe Scholz at Leipzig Ballett, where she notated and taught many of his works. From 1997, she was entrusted by Scholz to teach his choreographies to internationally known ballet companies, e.g. in Zurich, Beijing or Rio de Janeiro. Since 2001, she has worked as a freelancer supervising the staging of Scholz’s choreographies around the world.
We would like to thank Lucy van Cleef for her kind permission to publish this interview on our homepage.
