Dearest Earthly Friend | GOECKE

Dearest Earthly Friend are the words with which the American poet Emily Dickinson adressed her dear friend Reverend Charles Wadsworth, whom she only met a few times but remained emotionally attached to for her entire life. In a different, but somehow comparable way Marco Goecke, whose latest creation for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo carries this title, adresses his audience, that is each of us: with a salutation that expresses trust, but also imposes a certain responsibility. The dancers, accompagnied by Ella Fitzgerald`s singing and Gyorgy Ligeti’s piano music, are quickly moving in the apparently fuzzy but highly sophisticated, typical Goecke-style they are already familiar with as this is Goecke`s fourth choreography for the company. The series of precise and razor-sharp movements is performed in an increasingly explosive atmosphere tinging the air with dust and the colour of melancholy. While a dancer blows up a balloon until it bursts with a loud bang, Goecke remarks: "Think of all the countries in the world where there’s war". Nevertheless, the explosive tension does not lead to the abysses of darkness but is rather dissolved when the choreographer instructs a dancer, who lies on the floor, to flip around quickly 180 degrees: "It is time to turn the page". After all, Dearest Earthly Friend reveals to be optimistic: a horizon of hope is visible.

"Dearest Earthly Friend" | GOECKE
Choreography and scenography: Marco Goecke
Music: György Ligeti, Ella Fitzgerald
Costumes: Marco Goecke et Jean Michel Laine
Lighting: Udo Haberland
Dramaturgy: Nadja Kadel

Premiere held on October 21st 2011, Salle Garnier Opéra de Monte-Carlo