a very special birthday! The Gauthier Dance JUNIORS see the stage light of day – with the premiere of RENAISSANCE, the young company’s first own programme. The team of Theaterhaus Stuttgart and Artistic Director Eric Gauthier could not be happier.

The weeks of rehearsals have shown that the production exceeds even the highest expectations. Five pieces danced live, including world premieres by Rena Butler and Barak Marshall, plus Eric Gauthier’s short film form an evening of dance that is in no way inferior to the main company’s programmes, both in terms of quality and intensity. And so it is the young dancers themselves who have come up with the best birthday present – RENAISSANCE.
Please find five images and the production flyer attached as a little appetiser.

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
Sponsored by the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung

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 was 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.

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RENAISSANCE_Butler_Umbra_Penumbra_Foto_Jeanette_Bak

Rena Butler. The career of the young choreographer from Chicago only seems to know one direction – upwards, as a cover star for Dance Magazine and with commissioned work for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, National Ballet of Canada, Norrdans in Sweden, Oregon Ballet Theater, Boston Dance Theater as well as San Francisco Opera’s Orfeo ed Eurydice. In Umbra Penumbra she sends two dancers on a very personal quest for their own identity. After all, we can only achieve a truthful self-image if we manage to explore and face the blind spots of our inner world.
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 the humorous „relationship drama“ Honigsaft for the Deuces programme. With At the River Styx, Marshall has now gone for a very different mood. Dedicated to his beloved father, the new piece transports us to purgatory, where six souls have to make their peace with death …
Sharon Eyal. With SARA, the 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
Wednesday, April 10, 2024 / Thursday, April 11, 2024 / Friday, April 12, 2024 / Saturday, April 13, 2024 – at 8:00 p.m / Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.

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Photos Jeanette Bak

Rena Butler, Umbra Penumbra: Rebecca Amoroso and Rong Chang
Andonis Foniadakis, Bolero: Ayda Frances Güneri –  Joan Jansana Escobedo –  Stefano Gallelli – Rebecca Amoroso – Rong Chang
Eric Gauthier, short film Grand Voyage with Mathilde Roberge
Marco Goecke, Midnight Raga: Joan Jansana Escobedo and Stefano Gallelli
Barak Marshall, At the River Styx: centre Rong Chang – below Joan Jansana Escobedo and Ayda Frances Güneri – above Mathilde Roberge und Stefano Gallelli – at the back Rebecca Amoroso