Ballet for 21 dancers
Created on the 15th of April 2023 for the Paris Opera Ballet School
Choreography | Martin Chaix
Music | Maurice Ravel
Set design | Camille Dugas
Costumes | Alexandar Noshpal
Lighting | Tom Klefstad
Original cast | Indira Sas (La Belle au Bois Dormant), Typhaine Gervais (La Belle), Paul Mayeras (La Bête), Marcel Sarda (Le Petit Poucet), Luciana Delgado Sagioro (Laideronette), Carlo Zarcone (Barbe-Bleue), Oscar Verhaeghe (Le Loup), Chiara Chapelet (Le Petit Chaperon Rouge), Tosca Auba (Curieuse)
Children's tales have nourished generations with their imagination, whimsical characters, and morals. Ravel, by setting to music some tales by Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, and Charles Perrault, knew, thanks to his so particular writing, to capture the innocence of childhood, the lightness of this period of life that forges a personality and everything that constitutes the essence of a human being.
The ballet I created for the School of Dance of the Opéra National de Paris reflects this innocence and lightness of the soul through different characters of the tales evoked in the musical work as well as some personal additions, and through them, talk about us, sensitive, living and loving beings, - in short, human - at the heart of these fables
In close collaboration with Camille Dugas for the sets, Alexandar Noshpal for the costumes, and Tom Klefstad for the lights, the ballet takes place in a magical and poetic environment and is a tribute to books, those of these storytellers and other more current ones, those read to the little ones to fall asleep and make them dream, and those for the older ones who want to escape from reality - or virtuality - often heavy.
The ensemble is a luminous setting in which dancers will evolve to evoke different characters, and through their stories, talk to us about joy, fear, love, and, quite simply, about them; about us.
Photos © Svetlana Loboff
Ballet for 10 dancers
Created on the 10th of September 2020 for the Bolshoi Ballet
Choreography | Martin Chaix
Costume design | Alexandar Noshpal
Set design | Thomas Mika
Light design | Anton Stikhin
Music | Silentium. Senza Moto, second movement of Tabula Rasa from Arvo Pärt
Original cast | Svetlana Zakharova, Jacopo Tissi, Alyona Kovalyova, Igor Tsvirko, Eleonora Sevenard, David Motta Suares, Ana Turazashvili, Denis Savin Marpha Fyodorova, Kirill Sokolovsky
Tabula Rasa, from which the second movement Silentium is from, means “clean slate”, a sort of new beginning, starting from scratch to an unknown and uncertain reality.
As humanity is currently facing one of the worst global health crisis in history, I was looking for a way to find solace and use choreography as a catharsis for this horrid situation. Silentium is a ballet about transitioning into a distant and unsure world, a world that is both full of hopes and fears, a world no one knows.
On stage, I want to describe this intermediate state that everyone is - to different degrees - experiencing, following one protagonist through her journey as she is looking for answers and comfort.
A world of silence, blinded by a shining light. Choreographic poetry designed to ease ourselves.
“Speak not, lie hidden, and conceal the way you dream, the things you feel.”
Photos © M. Logvinov, P. Rychkov, Fetisova, Yusupov, Voronova
Ballet for 9 dancers
Created on the 7th of June 2019 for the Croatian National Ballet in Rijeka
Choreography and set design | Martin Chaix
Costumes | Aleksandar Noshpal
Music | “Apollon Musagète” from Igor Stravinsky
Duration | ca. 30 minutes
On the suggestion of Masa Kolar, artistic director of the Croatian National Ballet in Rijeka, I took Stravinsky’s composition and choreographed a complete and new version of this choreographic icon.
With the same approach as Firebird and Eine Winterreise, I took the liberty with Apollo’s libretto to re-think all of each characters places and roles in the story.
The ballet was originally composed by Stravinsky for the choreographer Adolph Bolm and, famously after choreographed by George Balanchine.
I am thrilled to have had the great opportunity to make my own artistic statement about this simple yet philosiphical and meaningful ballet.
Photos © Fanni Tutek Hajnal
Video coming soon…
Ballet for 25 dancers
Created on the 14th of January 2023 for the Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin
Choreography | Martin Chaix
Music | Adolphe Adam, Louise Farrenc
Music Director | Sora Elisabeth Lee
Dramaturg | Martin Chaix, Ulrike Wörner von Faßmann
Musical Dramaturg | Martin Chaix
Decor | Thomas Mika
Costumes | Catherine Voeffray
Lighting | Tom Klefstad
Original cast | Ana-Karina Enriquez-Gonzalez (Giselle), Avery Reiners (Albrecht), Dongting Xing (Bathilde), Susie Buisson (Myrtha), Alice Pernão (Hilarion), Di He (Moyna), Brett Fukuda (Zulma)
“My beautiful ideal is freedom, the right to express oneself for everyone, and for everyone the right to enjoy beautiful things.”
These words of Emma Goldman (1869-1940), anarchist, intellectual and feminist could be the leitmotif of all feminist struggles, both the question of the body and the need to regain control of it, to (re)find its freedom, is at the heart of any claim of these movements. It was pointed out to her that “it does not suit an agitator to dance (…) with such irresponsible abandon” when her only wish was simply to dance. Her ideal was also awkwardly paraphrased “If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution.”
This body is the very essence of dance and it is never staged casually, whether consciously or subconsciously, its symbolic significance always going beyond the aesthetics and the subject presented.
Giselle is the perfect example of a ballet from the romantic era which, beyond its ethereal and magical dimension of the second act, speaks to us in the foreground of the romantic and social-cultural relationships of the time in which it was created.
If we look concretely at the plot that is played out in front of us through the raw analysis of the main characters, we have, Giselle, a naive girl - some would say innocent - who falls into hysteria - some would say madness - in the first act and (very quickly) becomes magnanimous towards Albrecht in the second.
We have Bathilde, silent in the throes of her future husband, and a Myrtha cursed because she died before the wedding night, which at that time meant ' before she was able to have a sexual relationship and de facto become a woman ', bitter and vengeful, like her sisters the Wilis.
Next, comes Hilarion, a friend of Giselle and secretly in love with her, an expendable body, treated without pathos around her execution, no doubt because of her status as a peasant, and finally Albrecht, for whom his acts of deceit and betrayals towards Giselle and Bathilde have only too few consequences on her fate.
So many elements that have always seemed disturbing, even frightening to me.
It was Marian Smith in her book Ballet and Opera in the Age of Giselle that made me put my finger on my discomfort and my doubts about this story, especially this part that shocked me and gave me birth to this desire to give Giselle an alternative to her destiny.
“ Véron (former director of the Paris Opera) and his successors granted certain happy male patrons an even greater proximity to the ballerinas by admitting them to the foyer of the dance , ( … )
In addition, flirtations in this context sometimes took place in more private places in a system of "light prostitution " that the dancers found tempting because , without external income , many of them they were too poor to pay for food, fuel and accommodation. ( … )
dance historians have noted , the opera 's ballet-pantomime storylines tended to reflect this behind-the-scenes relationship by unequivocally promoting a particular set of values that upheld notions of male power and female submission .
( … ) the culpable dissonance between the seductions offered to the Opera's male patrons in the dance foyer and the lawful (if unglamorous) affection of their wives is mirrored - and beautifully resolved - in the plot of Giselle where Albrecht is forgiven by his noble betrothed for his banter with the pretty, dance-loving peasant girl Giselle . ( … )
Thus, one might say, the Opera under one roof offered men both a temptation and a kind of ballet plot that offered absolution for having given in to it . ”
Feminist movements, particularly those of the last decade, have formidably placed the body as a weapon of struggle at the center of the debate. Whether with the Femen, the recent women 's revolts in Iran, or the infamous MeToo, the power of these movements has reshuffled the cards of everything that we took for granted and normal. , and to make us do this introspective work on many constituent aspects of our society and our own relationships with women as individuals and collectives.
The ballet is no exception and the idea of taking part in this conversation has become obvious and even a necessity.
Being a choreographer is remarkable in that it allows me, through movement, to give substance to a story, an image, and a concept around a language and an aesthetic. To give body is to give a voice and it is the voice (voice) of these female protagonists that I wanted to amplify, to give them a new space and freedom.
The decision we made with my playwright, Ulrike Wörner von Fassman, was to imagine how the different protagonists while keeping the same premises of the original story, would act and react today.
Would Giselle forgive Albrecht for hiding the truth about Bathilde from her?
Would she find the strength to overcome her grief?
Would Albrecht, a narcissistic pervert playing and using women for his own pleasure, find forgiveness and clemency from Giselle and Bathilde?
Would Bathilde be as conciliatory about her fiancé's romantic escapades?
Will Hilarion be able to confess his love to Giselle?
As for Myrtha, how has the experience of her love wound, a trait specific to all Wilis, transformed her?
So many questions which have guided the development of the story and its protagonists throughout this creative process.
The question of femininity also raises that of masculinity. As a male choreographer, but also a heterosexual, married, and father of two little boys, the process of thinking about this creation upset a lot of things in me.
From a professional point of view, whether in the representation of genres on stage, technique, or work in the studio, my conception of everything that is directly or indirectly related to choreography has changed drastically and continues to evolve.
a private point of view, it considerably transformed my certainties and put into perspective things that I considered normal and acquired.
This Giselle, while embodying the freedom of the female protagonists, nevertheless goes beyond all these problems to rediscover the foundation of romanticism, namely the expression of love.
Because that is where perhaps the common and universal denominator for everyone resides. The search for happiness and personal fulfilment in love. Love of the other, whatever their gender and orientation. Self-love, and respect for others.
This “ freedom ”, dear to Emma Goldmann and so many others, is the freedom to love, to be able to enjoy one's body, to dance as we see fit, without authority, be it patriarchal, institutional, political, or religious, which most often dictates to the place of the person (women, LGBTQ+, … ) to whom she wants to submit her will, what she must do and how she must do it.
To be free to love. To be free to be loved. And love to be free.
This is the message I want to convey with this Giselle.
“If I can’t dance I don’t want to be in your revolution”
Photos © Agathe Poupeney
Ballet for 22 dancers
Created on the 12th of April 2019 for the Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg
Choreography and set design | Martin Chaix
Costumes | Aleksandar Noshpal
Musics | “Intermezzo” from K. Pendereki, “Adagio Cantabile” from the Sonate “Pathétique” from L. van Beethoven, and “Atmosphères” from G. Ligeti
Duration | ca. 30 minutes
This ballet is composed in triptych. A sort of Concerto in three parts.
Atmospheres, the title of Ligeti's work, serves as the basis for setting this piece in motion. Through this ballet, I want to create several paintings, to portray several situations and thus create a polyform work but at the same time that proceeds from the same impulse.
The two modern musical works of Intermezzo by Penderecki and Atmospheres by Ligeti, both in their own singularity, sometimes oscillate towards a latent, almost contemplative tension, and a brutality and exacerbated violence. The Piano Sonata no. 8, Beethoven's "Pathétique" takes the place here of an island of tranquility, an eye of the cyclone that contrasts with the two other musical works.
This creation, for twenty-two dancers, is an opportunity for me to explore different facets of human relationships. Through the sudden tensions and letting go of the music, I want to embody with the dancers all the subtleties of our relationships in society. These "atmospheres" created are the reflections of our inner desires and aspirations as well as distant and abstract instant pictures of society as we can observe around us.
Photos © Gert Weigelt
Ballet for 10 dancers
Created on the 9th of February 2019 for the Coburg Ballet
Choreography and set design | Martin Chaix
Costumes | Thomas Kaiser
Musics | John Dowland and “Lachrymae” from B. Britten
Duration | ca. 50 minutes
Musically, "Lachrymae" features sounds by John Dowland in the musical language of Benjamin Britten. What is the exciting thing about this constellation?
What attracted me to this selection of music is the idea that a thing of the past, namely here a composition of Dowland, is an implementation in a modern transmission.
With the construction of my piece, I want the audience to be aware of this connection. "Lachrymae" by Britten is based on "If my complaints" by Dowland, and this song comes three times in the structure. I want to put that song in everyone's mind before Britten's composition.
The fact that the royal jubilee and the topicality of Britain's politics are coming together at the moment is ironic, but it's just a chance example to realize that past and present are connected.
How is this musical contrast reflected in your choreography?
In my choreography, I tried to make two movement languages that look similar but still make up a unity.
It's about the relationships between the dancers. It's about the excitement and quiet moments that are in the play, which differ in both Dowland and Britten.
For me, the music leads the emotions, the way you move or just behave. I believe the audience will understand it and, although it is abstract, will take the atmosphere and the emotions with it. Like a British fish and chips that leaves its mark on the fingers.
Ballet for 7 female dancers
Created on the 17 of May 2018 for the Ballet de l'Opéra national du Rhin
Lights | Tom Klefstad
Set design | Matias Tripodi
Music | Concerto in d moll, BWV 1052 from J.-S. Bach
Duration | ca. 25 minutes
Returning to France after having left the Paris Opera Ballet almost 12 years ago, Martin Chaix, at the invitation of Bruno Bouché to come and create for the Ballet of the Opéra National du Rhin, dug here in his most intimate and ancient memories for this creation.
The Concerto in D minor is the music of the eponymous ballet by Claude Bessy; the first ballet he danced at the Dance School of the Opéra national de Paris.
A bit like Bach who took inspiration from his BWV 146 cantata, Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal (We must go through many tribulations) to compose this Concerto, Martin Chaix created a ballet that takes as a starting point the memories from his own experience.
Tribulations. This term, somewhat negative, crystallizes, in a way, a whole set of events and symbols of his personal life but also the ambient climate that reigns in our contemporary society.
Tribulations is what makes of this art, dance, so demanding and to which each dancer can here identifies himself.
Tribulations in each of the paths of our lives.
Tribulations in a society that makes us face complex challenges daily, and confront us with its physical and psychological violence that challenge our own certainties.
Abstract ballet in the form, the title Tribulations is just there as an epigraph, free of each and every one's interpretation.
Far from wanting to create a dark and pessimistic work, this creation remains an allegory, an evocation of those obstacles that we all have to cross one day. In the manner of an initiatory journey, this ballet has a sort of Nietzschean background that links ourselves to our personal struggles to our self-achievement, our dreams and an ideal society.
Photos © Agathe Poupeney
Tribulations | Created in May 2018 for the Ballet de l'Opéra national du Rhin (dir. Bruno Bouché)
Ballet for 15 dancers
Created on the 25th of May 2017 for the Croatian National Ballet in Split
Choreography and set design | Martin Chaix
Costumes | Alexandar Noshpal
Music | Krzysztof Penderecki, Sinfonetta per archi
Duration | ca. 18 minutes
Taking its core base on the combination of the very sharp and fierce composition from Penderecki and the monotonous blue inspiration from the painter Yves Klein, this ballet assembles two antithetical yet complementary forces. The one, calm and placid of a soft and constant flow; the other, rough and piquant, made of sudden burst and explosion. These two energies flowing through the stage are the receptacle of our inner own struggles and aspiration in life, like two sides of a same personality, of our own contrasts and paradoxes, of our anxieties and calmness.
This ballet is a journey through different states of love, a quite popular theme in the french culture. With songs from Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg, Boris Vian, Barbara and Léo Ferré, I wish to depict the bliss of the first encounter, the physical passion, the desire in a relation but also the loss and absence in solitude.
First created for 8 dancers, this ballet has been restaged and adapted to different companies
#1 version
Ballet for 8 dancers
Created on the 22nd of October 2015 at the Oper Leipzig Spiegelzelt for the Leipzig Ballet
Duration | 15 minutes
Musics | Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg, Boris Vian, Barbara, Léo Ferré
#2 version
Ballet for 12 dancers
Created on the 30th of November 2016 for Mecklenburg State Theater Ballet
Duration | ca. 70 minutes
Musics | Lucienne Boyer, Edith Piaf, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Pierre Boulez, Plastic Bertrand, Gabriel Fauré, Boris Vian, Barbara, Francis Poulenc, Joan Baez, Colette Magny
#3 version
Ballet for 18 dancers
Created on the 9th of December 2018 for the Theater Ballet Sibiu
Ballet for 10 dancers
Created on the 2nd of April 2016 for the Saarland National Theater Ballet
Choreography and set design | Martin Chaix
Costumes | Catherine Voeffray
Music | “Firebird Suite” (1945) Igor Stravinsky
Duration | 30 minutes
Each fairy tale or popular legend holds a raw truth and a common understanding inside. Trying to get to the core of a story. Tearing down all its fantastic and magical aspects. And then, seeing the naked truth, trying to understand it, to grasp its essence and finally taking this as a new ground to rebuild my own story.
With this approach in mind, I created a love story between the Young Woman and Ivan. The ballet speaks about the challenge that an encounter can represent; the constant oscillation between desire and refrain. The Firebird represents Ivan's deepest yearnings and embodies his inner self, and the Katshei personalizes the Young Woman's fears and struggle to free herself from her issues.
Spielzeit 2015/2016 | Choreografien von Jiří Kylián, Stijn Celis und Martin Chaix | Premiere am 2. April
Ballet for 3 dancers
Created the 7th of February 2014 at the Brotfabrik Bühne Bonn
Set Designer | Felix Aarts
Light Designer | Markus Becker
Duration | ca. 70 min.
Dancers | Ann-Kathrin Adam, Rashaen Arts, Friedrich Pohl
Eine Winterreise – A Winter Journey – is an introspective piece dealing with solitude and romance in today's society. Based on a work by Franz Schubert and Wilhelm Muller the ballet depicts a journey to the inner self and reflects upon isolation.
Winterreise was originally composed by Franz Schubert in 1828 from poems written by Wilhelm Muller in 1823. It is one of the leading works from the Romantic Period. Many versions have been recorded and performed, most notably that of the very famous duo Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore.
I was inspired to create this ballet when I found an alternative recording of Winterreise performed on saxophone and piano by Yuri Honing and Nora Milder. At first I was intrigued then it became a revelation.The music took on a totally new dimension. It had sensuality mixed with devastating nostalgia. The jazz tones and accents blend into a romantic tapestry reminiscent of the early 19th century. It is surprising and audacious. A pure delight.
Although Romanticism relates to the early 19th century the theme is universal and contemporary. Jazz uniquely defines nostalgia, heartbreak and loneliness....in short....The blues. For me this musical style feels the closest to romanticism
By combining jazz and Schubert's original score I wish to choreograph my own vision of Winterreise and, using a resolutely modern approach, show how these feelings lead to a longing for death.
Photos © Meike Lindek
Ballet for 12 dancers
Created the 12th of April 2013 for the Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg
Set design | Felix Aarts
Costums | Catherine Voeffray
Music | Concerto for Choir 1st movement, A. Schnittke
Original cast | Camille Andriot, Doris Becker, Wun-Sze Chan, Mariana Dias, Christina Garcia Fonseca, So-Yeon Kim, Nicole Morel, Feline van Dijken
Jackson Carroll, Sonny Locsin, Bruno Narnhammer, Alexandre Simões
