A production of Theaterhaus Stuttgart
in cooperation with Schauburg Munich

A warm thank you to our premium partner ElringKlinger AG, our sponsor Fashion- und
Lifestylehaus Breuninger in Stuttgart as well as to our supporters The First Friends und
Friends of Gauthier Dance, Eurowings GmbH, the John Cranko Society and the
Foundation Herbert Metzger and Anneliese Metzger-Nord.
Theaterhaus Stuttgart is sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Bank, the State of Baden-
Wuerttemberg and the City of Stuttgart.



The full-length ballet by Marco Goecke deals with the dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinski. It touches on significant stages of his life on and off the stage showing how closely art and madness are related.

Nijinski was one of the most extraordinary artists of the last century and made dance
history with parts like the clown in Igor Stravinsky's Petruschka, the Ghost of the Rose in
Le Spectre de la rose and the Golden Slave in Sheherazade. It is on the strength of his
pioneering choreographies, though, that he set new artistic standards. The Paris première
of Nijnski's Le Sacre du printemps in 1913 created what is still considered one of the
greatest scandals known in the history of theatre. The undisguised eroticism of his ballet
L'Après-midi d'un faune based on Claude Debussy caused scarcely less offence.
Nijinski's career is closely linked with the path towards madness. He was fighting
schizophrenia and had to gradually withdraw from public life. Nijinksi lived through both
world wars and, as patient in a psychiatric hospital, he narrowly escaped death by the NS
euthanasia programme, together with his wife Romola.

The piece shows key scenes of Nijinski's youth, the years of his triumphs and the
relentless decline. Typically for Goecke, the piece moves far beyond biographical aspects
addressing fundamental issues. NIJINSKI will reflect on the magic and the value of art –
and the high price it exacts from all creative minds. The team includes partners who have
collaborated many times with Marco Goecke: the set and costume designer Michaela
Springer, the lighting designer Udo Haberland and the dramaturge Esther Dreesen-
Schaback.


Marco Goecke
In the last few years, Marco Goecke, Resident Choreographer of the Stuttgart Ballet and
Associate Choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater in The Hague, has emerged as
one of the most sought-after choreographers worldwide – renowned for his poignant,
avant-garde dance language and the audacity with which he breaks down aesthetic
boundaries. In 2003 Goecke won the Prix Dom Pérignon, 2005 the Cultural Award of the
Land Baden-Wuerttemberg and 2006 the Prix Nijinsky for upcoming choreographers. His
ballet Nutcracker was nominated for the German Theatre Prize THE FAUST 2007. In the
current dance critics' survey of the specialist magazine tanz he was voted Choreographer
of the Year 2015. Over the past ten years, Marco Goecke has created more than 30
pieces including the full-length ballets Nutcracker and Orlando for the Stuttgart Ballet and
world premières for, amongst others, John Neumeier's The Hamburg Ballet, Les Ballets
de Monte Carlo, Nederlands Dans Theater, the Norwegian National Ballet, the Leipzig
Ballet and the São Paulo Dance Company. His works are also performed by companies
such as the Ballet of Gärtnerplatztheater Munich or Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de
Montréal.

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