Metamorphosen Ensemble
The Metamorphosen Ensemble merges sound and movement into an extraordinary stage experience. In this process instrumentalists and dancers move subtly between the genres from a chamber music concert into a ballet performance. Inspired by Ovid´s Metamorphosis the first production „Verwandlung“ was created in 2017 by Anna Göbel and Leeroy Boone.
Begegnungen mit Bach
With „Begegnungen mit Bach“ the Metamorphosen Ensemble focuses on the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Following the invitation by the festival „32. Lüneburger Bachwoche“ Anna Göbel and Kristina Borbelyova created a minimalistic dance evening, in which two musicians and two dancers turn into an extraordinary quartet on stage.
Anna Göbel (violin) and Sebastian Escobar (violoncello) intertwine solo pieces and chamber music by Bach with romantic and contemporary compositions by Halvorsen, Ysaye and Schulhoff and bring out surprising parallels. Choreographer Kristina Borbelyova sets these sounds in motion and gives them a new dimension. In her creations the dancers Sara Ezzell and Joel Paulin constantly enter into new connections with each other and the instrumentalists to show their personal view on the work and life of Johann Sebastian Bach.
„The potential of these young dancers is certainly big, their movements glide and flow, there is not a single faux pas in the whole evening.“
„(…) beautiful and moving, especially because the musicians are as familiar with each other as the dancers.“
„The music and dance experiment was successful. (…) the audience witnessed the artists´ performance with enthusiasm.“
Elke Schneefuss
Landeszeitung für die Lüneburger Heide
25. September 2018
Verwandlung
The collaboration between Anna Göbel and dancer and choreographer Leeroy Boone started with the search for the magical moment when sound and movement merge with each other. Inspired by Ovid´s Metamorphosis they developed the dance evening „Verwandlung“ for three musicians and four dancers, in which chamber music and ballet meet as equal partners.
On a musical level the program is shaped by the contrast between solo pieces by Bach and the sonority of impressionistic music by Debussy and Ravel. The myths by composer Karol Szymanowski with their spherical sounds take the listener to a mysterious world, where nothing stays as expected. In these musical poems violin and piano breathe life into the ancient figures Arethusa, Pan, Narciss and Echo and build a bridge to Schostakowitsch´s first piano trio as the fulminant final of the evening.
The choreographers Marc Jubete Bascompte, Florimon Poisson and Leeroy Boone shine a light on the poetic power and beauty of ancient Greek mythology with their pieces „Partir“, „Clair de lune“, „Pygmalion´s dances“ and „Desiderare“. In the dancers movements they give their personal touch to the stories of gods, mythical creatures and humans and show us the timeless truths in their destinies, which are determined by providence, love and violence. The premiere of „Verwandlung“ with Anna Göbel (violin), Anna Catharina Nimczik (violoncello), Krisztina Gyöpös and Catalina Hrubaru (piano) and dancers of the Hamburg Ballet took place in monsun.theater Hamburg in June 2017.