1st Steps – the new Hungarian National Ballet show

Created to Maurice Ravel’s Bolero and the music of Steve Reich, Erik Satie and others, the choreographies of the 1st Steps show address facets of life that affect us all in the irresistibly thrilling language of dance of Hans van Manen, Johan Inger, Jiří Kylián and Alexander Ekman.

This September will see the premieres of previous years, Trois Gnossiennes, Falling Angels and Walking Mad, joined by the new production Episode 31, and it is with these masterpieces that the Hungarian National Ballet will be taking its own “first steps” in the 2019/2020 season.

Trois Gnossiennes is the third and middle part of Hans van Manen’s Piano Variations, created between 1980 and 1984. Manen crafted a sensitive choreography to Erik Satie’s magical and melancholy music, which is about resignation, trust and harmony.

The work has a Hungarian connection too: the Dutch choreographer created the female role in the pas de deux for the world-famous ballerina Mária Aradi, now a ballet master with the Hungarian National Ballet.

Johan Inger’s Walking Mad was conceived for the stage with nine dancers moving to the music of Ravel’s Bolero. The piece reflects the Socratic principle that “the greatest blessings find us in the face of madness”. “The famous Bolero from Ravel with its sexual, almost kitsch history was the trigger for me to make my own version. I quickly decided that it was going to be about relationships in different forms and circumstances. I came up with the idea of a wall that could transform the space during this minimalistic music and create small pockets of space and situations.