Wings of Wax: Clip from the Ballet by Jiří Kylián | Nederlands Dans Theater

Clip from “Wings of Wax“, a modern ballet performance by Jiří Kylián. Subscribe to the Monarda Channel: @monardachannel Music: Philip Glass - Strings Quartet No. 5, Mvt III Nederlands Dans Theater I Dancers: Virginie Martinat Aurélie Cayla Lydia Bustinduy Valentina Scaglia Lukás Timulak Stefan Zeromski Patrick Marin Bastien Zorzetto Choreography: Jiří Kylián The extent to which Kylián’s language of movement evolved over time and was absorbed by his dancers is revealed by “Wings of Wa“x. First performed in 1997 in the Lucent Danstheater in The Hague, the dancers’ sequences of steps and arm movements, the way they embrace and encircle each other is much clearer, softer, and all-encompassing. At the centre of the stage during this wonderfully fluent choreography is a gigantic tree with its naked crown hanging down, suspended from the flies. The dead tree is circled by a spotlight, which creates regular, subtle shadows like a revolving planet The eight dancers in their wine-red and black leotards emerge almost hesitantly out of the darkness, form into pairs in the warm light and together make the most of the melancholy largo and accelerating virtuosity of the music. But though the title, with its reference to Icarus and his wings made of wax, suggests an atmosphere of danger, this does not develop. Instead, the dancers’ careful investigation and capture of the empty space ends with a single pair appearing in the waning light under the tree in an intense embrace, their heads and upper bodies tilted back and swinging in alternating, semi-circular movements. The film version of Wings of Wax won Kylián and the NPS Broadcasting Company the “Prix Italia Film Award” in 2009. Costume design: Joke Visser Light and decor design: Michael Simon Light adaptation: Kees Tjebbes Lighting: Arno Warmerdam Camera: Simon Aarden, Carrien Dijkstra TV director: Hans Hulscher Produced by Nederlands Dans Theater, in cooperation with ZDF/3Sat, SVT and NPS Television © 2008, NPS, ZDF/3sat