From a Classical Position
William Forsythe,, acknowledged as one of the greatest choreographic talents of our time, and his long-time collaborator
Dana Caspersen, also of the
Frankfurt Ballet, perform a duet conceived especially for the camera.
From a Classical Position constitutes a one-off experience of Forsythe and Caspersen’s work, giving dance lovers a unique vision of their art as choreographer, dancers and now film-makers.
The piece is performed to an original score by Thomas Willems, a composition for a single piano, which like the dance is at once naked in its simplicity and at times spell-binding in its complex intensity. To this sometimes-music and sometimes-silence performance, Caspersen and Forsythe dance a duet of sublime passion and sophistication, a love story without sentimentality.
Just Dancing Around?
To produce this intimate portrait, Mike Figgis (Director of the Oscar-winning Leaving Las Vegas) spent six weeks with William Forsythe at the Frankfurt Ballet, where he has been Artistic Director since 1984. A rare choreographic tralent whose work is both intellectually and physically challenging, Forsythe makes a clear and articulate case for his method of deconstructing classical ballet.
Figgis takes the role of fascinated outsider, pursuing his volatile subject with a dogged enthusiasm. The documentary focuses on the build-up to the first performance of Forsythe’s The Loss of Small Detail, and the soundtrack features the avant-garde music of Thomas Willems and Handel’s Concerti Grossi.
