Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker: The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

In this extraordinary dance solo, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker continues her journey with Bach, this time together with the internationally celebrated pianist, Pavel Kolesnikov. She stays true to her main principle of using the musical score as the blueprint for choreography. The Goldberg Variations belong to Bach’s late period, in which the composer pushes the boundaries of musical themes in a play of variations, canons, and fugues. Spanning one aria and thirty variations, the music challenges the choreography to find a form of dance capable of adaptation and flexibility while retaining an immutable core. To De Keersmaeker, it is above all an invitation to consolidate the road travelled as an artist, posing today’s questions in her ongoing search for a personal choreographic idiom.