International Ballet Festival »Leipzig tanzt!« 21. – 29. June 2024

• With guests from England, Slovenia, Italy and France
• Discussions on the future of ballet and dance
• Interface with the city’s independent scene
• Opportunities to dance along

Under the motto and title »Leipzig tanzt!« (eng.: »Leipzig dances!«), Leipzig Ballet invites you to experience the art form of ballet and dance in all its facets in the summer of 2024. This international ballet festival, a central event in the city of music Leipzig, will take place from 21 to 29 June 2024, confirming Leipzig’s status as a city of dance. Names such as Mary Wigman and Uwe Scholz have established the international reputation of the Leipzig Ballet, whose origins date back to the 17th century and whose choreographies frame the festival programme. The renowned Gewandhausorchester lends an unmistakably Leipzig sound to five major evenings of ballet at the Opera House. Festival curator Rémy Fichet presents in »Leipzig tanzt!« 24 a selection of internationally acclaimed guests, combined with an interactive accompanying programme and discussion panels on the future of ballet.

The programme and festival guests

Festival guests include Akram Khan and his company from London. His choreographic signature lies in the fusion of the classical Indian dance Kathak with contemporary movements. The company will be in Leipzig on 26 June 2024 with their poetic-political creation »Jungle Book Reimagined«. On 21 and 22 June 2024, the Slovenian National Ballet Maribor will present its dramatic narrative ballet »Peer Gynt« in Leipzig, underlining the connection between Edvard Grieg and the city of music Leipzig. Choreographer Edward Clug’s biography includes stints with the Stuttgart Ballet, the Nederlands Dance Theatre, the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and the Vienna State Ballet. He has already been celebrated in Leipzig and Zurich for his interpretation of »Faust«. Through his programmatic direction and his own highly expressive productions, he has firmly anchored the National Ballet Maribor in the international ballet scene. The project-based company IVONA was founded in 2019 by the Italian-Swiss dancer Pablo Girolami. As an association of different artists who are engaged in a variety of artistic disciplines, also beyond the field of dance, it sees itself as a contemporary example of professional artistic research. The innovative company will be making a guest appearance in Leipzig on 22 and 23 June 2024 with a new work: »Selective Breeding«, a passionate denunciation of selfish genetic manipulation techniques.

The classic »Giselle«, newly conceived by ballet director Mario Schröder, is intended as a spherical combination of dance, voice and bodies and is the first collaboration between the vocal ensemble »Sjaella«, the Leipzig Ballet and the Gewandhausorchester. »Giselle« is the final performance of the festival on 29 June 2024, preceded by a performance of »Peter I. Tschaikowski« by the Leipzig Ballet on 23.6.24. Tchaikovsky influenced and shaped classical ballet through his compositions like few other composers – the myth of his music remains undiminished to this day. In this new Leipzig version, Catalan choreographer Cayetano Soto paints a compelling portrait of an artist who was unable to live the life he wanted.

The ballet troupe of the Musikalische Komödie, Oper Leipzig’s second venue, is also involved in the »Leipzig tanzt!« programme with its imaginative and synaesthetic collage »Klang.Körper.Visionen« (Sound.Body.Visions). The ballet festival also presents an important initiative from the independent scene, the mixed-abled FORWARD DANCE COMPANY: in this first professional dance company in Saxony, which is permanently based at »LOFFT –Das Theater«, dancers with normative and non-normative physicalities work together under professional conditions. The International Ballet Festival »Leipzig tanzt!« Gala on 28 June 2024 offers a number of dance highlights: the world-famous soloists from the Opéra National de Paris Mathieu Ganio and Ludmila Pagliero will be making guest appearances. Alongside highlights from the Leipzig ballet repertoire by Uwe Scholz and Mario Schröder, a journey through the history of dance can be experienced, including Maurice Béjart’s choreographic masterpiece »Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen« (Songs of a Wayfarer). Here the new Hamburg Chamber Ballet, made up of dancers from Ukraine, will be introduced.

Tobias Wolff, Director of Oper Leipzig and host of the International Ballet Festival »Leipzig tanzt!« 24: »With this addition to Leipzig’s festival line-up, we are celebrating dance and ballet as an integral and unique part of the city’s music scene. The Leipzig Ballet has invited a vibrant combination of international guests and dance styles for this event. We are looking forward to a summery dance extravaganza that we would like to share with the many ballet fans and dance enthusiasts from all over the world.«

A festival of dialogue

The extensive accompanying programme of the one-off Leipzig Ballet Festival will include opportunities to dance along, behind-the-scenes glimpses and opportunities for discussion at every performance, as well as a collaborative project with club culture and controversial panels on the future direction of the dance scene. Renowned guests such as the acclaimed dance and theatre scholar Dr Gabriele Brandstetter will take part in the panels. The dance company House of Brownies will create a performance for the club culture of  Leipzig.

The ballet festival will be curated by Rémy Fichet, the long-standing production manager and designated ballet director of the Leipzig Ballet, who began his career as a dancer at the Opéra National de Paris and continued his solo career at the Leipzig Ballet under Uwe Scholz. Anna Elisabeth Diepold, dramaturge of Oper Leipzig, is responsible for the supporting and interactive programme. For the »City of Music: Leipzig«, »Leipzig tanzt!« is a treasure in the annual series of festivals that tie in with the city’s great musical tradition. The 2024 International Ballet Festival is the second festival to be hosted by Oper Leipzig and underscores dance as an integral part of the city’s musical and theatrical history. A festival dedicated to the composer Albert Lortzing is already being planned for 2026.

Information on the programme and full schedule is available online at

www.oper-leipzig.de/leipzig-tanzt

Tickets are available online at oper-leipzig.de or via Oper Leipzig’s visitor services Tue – Fri 10 am to 6 pm, Sat 12 pm to 6 pm, both at the box office in the Opera House and by telephone at +49 (0)341-12 61 261.