Forsythe ballet in London

We just don't get the chance to see many ballets created by William Forsythe in London. For some reason, he is not on the main companies' roster. So it's great to see Boston Ballet coming to town for the first time in 30 years with one of his pieces, The Second Detail. After really enjoying Artifact by Royal Ballet of Flanders last year, you bet I'll be there! Plus it's on a programme with Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia, which I also like (and some Jiri Kylian, oh well)

Here's a clip of the piece performed by Semperoper Ballet

Forsythe's Synchronous Objects for One Flat Thing, reproduced

Still from annotated video illustrating the complex system of cueing in One Flat Thing, reproduced
Credit: Synchronous Objects Project, The Ohio State University and The Forsythe Company

Back in January, I was looking at William Forsythe's videos from his CD-Rom Improvisation Technologies and wondering what we could do now that computer and film technologies have progressed so much. Well it turns out Forsythe was on it too: his latest project, called Synchronous Objects for One Flat Thing, reproduced, is a collaboration with the Univeristy of Ohio and launches on the 1st of April.

From the press release:

'Focusing on Forsythe’s complex ensemble dance One Flat Thing, reproduced, the project presents an original collection of screen-based visualizations (video, digital artwork, animation, and interactive graphics) that reveal interlocking systems of organization in the choreography. The project aims to appeal to a broad public from diverse fields including but not limited to dance (...)
This research is a process in which choreographic ideas are the source of information for the composition of unique visual objects. These objects enable the ideas in the choreography to be quickly grasped in their entirety and suggest new interpretations.'

The teaser video and images look stunning, I am really looking forward to seeing more.

Full press release and images from the Synchronous Objects website. There is also an essay by Forsythe. To be honest he kind of lost me after about the fourth paragraph but I kept reading and it started making sense. Choreography can now exist outside of performance, outside of the body, and this project gives choreographic thinking a new outlet for expression (I guess?!)

William Forsythe: Improvisation Technologies

A bit of Forsythe has never hurt anyone, has it?



This video is from Forsythe's CD-Rom Improvisation Technologies: A Tool for the Analytical Dance Eye. The CD-Rom contains 60 video chapters in which Forsythe explains his movement language.

I love how things appear to help see what Forsythe wanted. The videos were made in 1994 - imagine what we could do now that film technology has progressed so much.

Out of print at Amazon. You can view them all here.