Exquisite pleasure and hard-nosed politics—in Habsburg times, they went hand in hand at Vienna's imperial balls, according to strict rules, of course. Imperialism is the pursuit of power and influence beyond one's own borders, the conquest of new territories and resources. What now takes place in Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's Bal impérial, premiered at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, is more of a confluence, a fusion of different cultural codes. To conclude a year full of festivities—the occasion being the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II—the city of Vienna commissioned the piece from Cherkaoui, who is also the ballet director in Geneva. The result is a co-production with the anniversary label Johann Strauss 2025 Wien and Cherkaoui's own company, Eastman. The Belgian-Moroccan choreographer has ...
Close-Up
Emperor Waltz
Reloaded
In Geneva, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui invites the audience to a Bal impérial, blending cultural codes from Asia and Europe
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