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HOW TO TACKLE THE WORKS OF ONE OF BALLET'S GIANTS
There I stood, center stage, during a performance of William Forsythe's In the middle, somewhat elevated. Rehearsals for the ballet had been tricky. I'd felt selfconscious and hesitant about its stretched-to-the-limits choreography- particularly the passages of improvisation - in the studio. I couldn't tell if what I was doing looked right. Yet at that moment during the show, with no mirror and no chance for a "do-over," I was forced to follow my gut instincts. And it felt awesome.
There's nothing like dancing a Forsythe ballet. It's an adrenaline rush, a brain tease and a crazy cardio workout all rolled into one. Your mind and body are challenged in ways you never thought possible. It can definitely be intimidating. But if you stay true to Forsythe's style and surrender yourself to the music, dancing his works could be one of the highlights of your career.
THE MAN BEHIND THE MOVES
Forsythe danced with the Jeffrey Ballet and then with the Stuttgart Ballet in Germany, where he was eventually appointed resident choreographer. In 1984, he became director of Ballet Frankfurt. During the next 20 years he created what would become his signature ballets: Artifact (his first full-length while at Ballet Frankfurt), In the middle, somewhat elevated (made for the Paris Opéra Ballet) and The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude (maybe the toughest 12 minutes of dancing out there).
Who inspires Forsythe's choreography? For his pointe shoe ballets, it's...