Morphoses

Morphoses

Morphoses is a complex, athletic ballet for four dancers. Set to Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 1, the ballet begins with four orange-clad dancers rising from the floor as a single, moving organism that contracts and expands before breaking off into two couples. Each couple presents a complex pas de deux requiring both flexibility and lyricism. The dancers' movements, in response to Ligeti’s atmospheric sounds, seem to unfold spontaneously. The choreography then returns the dancers to their opening formation as a united, breathing organism. In addition to energetically nuanced musical performance by the Flux Quartet, Morphoses is further enhanced by vertical strips of light of continuously changing colors that appear and disappear against the spare, black background, reflecting the changing movements of the dancers.

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Creative Team

Choreography
Christopher Wheeldon

Music
György Ligeti

Costumes
Holly Hynes

Lighting
Mark Stanley

World Premiere: October 2008 - Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, New York City Center.