On Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 8 pm, the new Gauthier Dance production M.M. & MORE will celebrate its world premiere in the Studio Theater of the Grand Théatre de Luxemburg. The evening is comprised of five works: the world premiere of Eric Gauthier's M.M. , the world premiere of Weird Fishes by Italian choreographer Francesco Nappa, the world premiere of Eric Gauthier's Orchestra of Wolves, Ben van Cauwenbergh's Les Bourgeois and Gauthier's Quilt.

Gauthier's M.M. is a tribute to the world famous French mime Marcel Marceau (1923 – 2007) as well as a tribute to Gauthier's idol, the renowned Danish dancer Egon Madsen (born 1942). Marceau, whose personification of the tragicomic Clown Bip made the "art of silence" popular the world over and Madsen, one of the few dancers able to portray romantic heroes as well as hilarious clowns, are, according to Gauthier, predestined for one another: "Marcel Marceau and Egon Madsen are two great stage personalities with the sublime ability to make an audience laugh and cry at the same time. I can think of no one more fitting to portray Marcel Marceau in the dance world today than Egon."
Gauthier's new work is based on episodes in Marceau's life and utilises music by the famous mime's favorite composers W.A. Mozart and J.S. Bach as well as commissioned music by Jens-Peter Abele. The set design – a huge book whose turning pages reveal the different chapters of Marceau's life, was conceived and designed by Gudrun Schretzmeier, a well known designer for German film and stage. M.M. also incorporates the dancers of Gauthier Dance who portray figures which played an important role in Marceau's life. Lighting and video design are by Fender Schrade.
Madsen, whose extraordinary talents as a dancer-actor inspired, among others, John Cranko, Kenneth MacMillan and John Neumeier to create roles for him which are still found in the repertoires of leading dance companies the world over (for example in Onegin, Romeo and Juliet, Song of the Earth and Lady of the Camelias), returned to the stage at the age of 57 upon the invitation of Jiri Kylian. As a member of Nederlands Dans Theater III – and subsequently as its artistic director – he inspired choreographers such as Kylian, Meryl Tankard and Robert Wilson and was instrumental in making the "senior" dance company world famous through extensive tours.
Madsen first met Eric Gauthier a decade ago while coaching for the Stuttgart Ballet. Over the subsequent years, Madsen coached Gauthier in several of his former famous roles including Mercutio in Cranko's Romeo and Juliet, the Joker in Cranko's Jeu de Cartes and the Initial "E" (for Egon) in Cranko's Intitials R.B.M.E.
When Gauthier left the Stuttgart Ballet in 2007, his first project was with Egon Madsen: a world premiere created for Gauthier and Madsen by Christian Spuck produced by the Theaterhaus Stuttgart in co-production with the Grand Theatre de Luxemburg. The new piece, titled Don Q., More than a Revue about the Loss of Reality, was so successful that to date it has received over 50 performances in the Theaterhaus Stuttgart and has toured extensively in Germany as well as to Spain, Korea, Italy, Austria and Luxemburg. Since 2008 Madsen is company coach for Gauthier Dance, travelling several times a year to Stuttgart to work with Eric Gauthier's dancers.
M.M. & MORE will also include a world premiere titled Weird Fishes by the italian choreographer Francesco Nappa. Nappa, a former dancer with Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, the Royal Danish Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater, first had contact with Gauthier Dance in 2008, when he came to Stuttgart to set Jiri Kylian's Double You on the company. Nappa has created a pas de trois to music by the British band Radiohead.
Gauthier was inspired by music of another sort for his second world premiere of the evening: the famous first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Titled Orchestra of Wolves, this new work for seven dancers depicts a frantic conductor trying to control his rebellious orchestra. The audience is kept in suspense until the very end whether or not the conductor survives his ordeal. A perfect example of Gauthier's trademark of original – and often humorous - ideas effectively translated into dance, Orchestra of Wolves promises to be another favorite with Gauthier Dance audiences. The costumes for Orchestra of Wolves have kindly been donated by Hugo Boss A.G.
Gauthier's Quilt was inspired by a visit to the Bosna Quilt Exhibit in Austria. Initially begun in 1993 as a way to provide Bosnian refugees in Austria with a therapeutic artistic and social occupation, the Bosna Quilt Workshop has since been relocated to Goradze, Bosnia. Currently twelve families create and sell quilts which have been exhibited and sold in over 80 European cities. Set to the haunting music of the Sarajevo born musician Goran Bregovic, Gauthier's Quilt explores the memories of a war widow who quilts her loss and sorrow into the fabric of the blanket she is making.
Van Cauwenbergh's Les Bourgeois is set to the famous Flemish chanson singer Jacques Brel's song of the same title. A dancing and acting tour de force, Les Bourgeois has become one of Eric Gauthier's signature solos.

to the top