Some are performing, others are rehearsing: While the main company of Gauthier Dance is spreading festive joy with its anniversary show 15 YEARS ALIVE, both on tour and at Theaterhaus Stuttgart, the young talents are already counting down to the new year.

For January 18, 2024 will see the premiere of RENAISSANCE, the first stage programme of the Gauthier Dance JUNIORS! The young dancers are currently still in rehearsals for the second world premiere of the six-part bill. After Rena Butler choreographed the pas de deux Umbra Penumbra in November, Barak Marshall is currently creating the group piece At the River Styx for all six JUNIORS. They won’t be rehearsing in the Löwentor studio for much longer, by the way. Right after the Christmas holidays, the JUNIORS will move on to the Theaterhaus hall T3 for the finish in the original setup.

RENAISSANCE_Probe_Rena_Butler_1_Foto_Jeanette_Bak

RENAISSANCE_Probe_Barak_Marshall_2_Foto_Jeanette_Bak

RENAISSANCE_Probe_Barak_Marshall_1_Foto_Jeanette_Bak

Gauthier Dance JUNIORS//Theaterhaus Stuttgart
RENAISSANCE
World premieres by Rena Butler and Barak Marshall
Choreographies by Sharon Eyal, Andonis Foniadakis and Marco Goecke
Short film premiere by Eric Gauthier
A production of Theaterhaus Stuttgart

Artistic Director: Eric Gauthier
Ballet Master: Tara Yipp
Dancers: Rebecca Amoroso (Italy), Rong Chang (Taiwan), Stefano Gallelli (Canada), Ayda Frances Güneri (Turkey), Joan Jansana Escobedo (Spain), Mathilde Roberge (Canada)

Fancy travelling back in time? Just book a ticket for RENAISSANCE. After all, the first own stage programme of the Gauthier Dance JUNIORS is a rebirth of sorts. The production conveys much of the spirit of optimism that prevailed at Theaterhaus Stuttgart in the 2007/2008 season when Eric Gauthier opened the first chapter of an astonishing success story – with a company of six dancers and the bill Six Pack.
Now a new story begins. From the moment rehearsals started, the enthusiasm and motivation of the six young dancers has been palpable – as well as their formidable talent. For RENAISSANCE, the JUNIORS are bound to need it! The varied and challenging sextet of pieces not only includes world premieres by Rena Butler and Barak Marshall, masterpieces by Sharon Eyal, Andonis Foniadakis and Marco Goecke as well as a new short film by Eric Gauthier. The illustrious international line-up of the choreographers involved also makes clear that there will be no compromise on artistic excellence. RENAISSANCE thus gives the JUNIORS an extremely valuable opportunity: to grow in the face of a great challenge.

Rena Butler. For the past few years, the career of the young, Chicago-based choreographer has known but one direction – upwards, with commissions from Hubbard Street Dance Chicago or Boston Dance Theatre as well as being the cover star of Dance Magazine in November 2019. As a person of colour, it is particularly important to Rena Butler to make dance accessible to everyone – and to bring its full diversity to the stage.
Barak Marshall. The singer and choreographer grew up in the USA, but his artistic breakthrough only came after his emigration to Israel, when he became house choreographer of the legendary Batsheva Dance Company. His first work for Gauthier Dance was Honigsaft for the Deuces programme. The humorous „relationship drama“ captured the company’s Gauthier Dance so well that it quickly became clear: collaboration to be continued!
Sharon Eyal. With SARA, the Israeli star choreographer has created an enigmatic, incredibly atmospheric piece that takes a deep dive into a world of dreams and memories. What’s more, SARA is the perfect match for the JUNIORS. This is because Eyal originally developed it for another young company – the world-famous NDT2.
Marco Goecke. Eric Gauthier has long had his eye on this work for his own company. Not only was it awarded the Dutch dance Oscar Zwaan (Swan), even measured against Goecke’s high choreographic standards, Midnight Raga  stands out. A radical, ardent pas de deux that shows contemporary dance in perfection.
Andonis Foniadakis. Notoriously difficult to dance: His mesmerising choreographies combine complex movement sequences with breakneck speed. By other means, his famous Bolero also challenges the performers to the point of exhaustion. From the first to the last bar and set to the hypnotic score by Maurice Ravel, Foniadakis has them dance on – trampolines.
Eric Gauthier. He discovered his love of choreographing for film while shooting Covid Cage for The Dying Swans Project. His contribution to RENAISSANCE will therefore also be a short film. Grand Voyage translates an inner journey into dance. A journey that all JUNIORS have embarked on and that takes them far away from their homes – into their professional lives as dancers. The biography of Gauthier’s protagonist has much in common with his own. Like himself, Mathilde Roberge is French Canadian and a graduate of the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto.

Theaterhaus, T3
Premiere on Thursday, January 18 2024 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Saturday, January 20, 2024 – at 8:00 p.m / Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. & 8:00 p.m. / Thursday, January 25, 2024 / Friday, January 26, 2024 / Saturday, January 27, 2024 – at 8:00 p.m

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Photos Jeanette Bak