It’s like a dovecote. Door open, door closed – a busy coming and going in the training hall of the Berlin State Ballet. Everyone wants to be there: artistic director Christian Spuck, operations manager Michael Banzhaf, the stars, the younger to very youngest dancers who have never seen the man and perhaps will never see him again – William Forsythe, the soon-to-be 75-year-old barricade striker from New York. This morning he is personally rehearsing three of his pieces. A privilege, because Forsythe is the last living revolutionary in the field. He broke up the traditional axes, positions and poses of classical dance and put together something new from the fragments: the ballet of postmodernism. This pioneering achievement is the reason for the exceptional position he has in the scene – and his worldwide reputation.
King of the ballet: William Forsythe at the Berlin State Ballet – Culture
