Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker/Pavel Kolesnikov/Rosas – The Goldberg Variations/BWV 988

The Goldberg Variations are from Bach’s late period, in which the composer pushes the boundaries of musical themes in a play of variations, canons and fugues. He started from a simple and quiet melody, joined with an underlying bass line, which steadily unfolds into a musical cosmos that reveals itself with extraordinary variety and unparalleled complexity. Together with pianists Pavel Kolesnikov and Alain Franco, choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker continues her journey with Bach. Her previous work with Bach’s The Six Brandenburg Concertos had a large cast, this piece is pared back to a solo performance danced by De Keersmaeker herself. The dance draws on the music as a blueprint for movement. The music features one aria and thirty variations and the choreography mirrors this pattern seeking to find a form of dance capable of flexibility which retaining its essence.