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Mats Ek retires and pulls the plug on his choreography worldwide

ByGramilano Reading Time: 2 minutes

Mats Ek From Black to Blue presents his last ever piece of choreography tonight until 10 January in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on the first stop of his farewell tour. He is 70.

The programme presents three pieces under the title, From Black to Blue.

She Was Black is from 1994, and will be performed by dancers from the Semperoper Ballett Dresden. The 1996 work Solo for 2 features Dorothée Delabie and Oscar Salomonsson. The last piece, and also his final choreography, is called Hâche, created, appropriately, for his wife and muse, , who will dance with Yvan Auzely. The work uses music by Albinoni, with sets and costumes by Katrin Brännström together with Jörgen Jansson’s lighting.

Along with his retirement comes the surprising announcement that he will be withdrawing the rights to perform his works from companies across the world. Le Figaro reports that as he is obsessed with perfection he no longer wants he pieces to be staged if he is not available to oversee the rehearsal process.

No more performances of Giselle? Apartment? And in Japan, has just said adieu to his touching piece Bye at the end on her final tour.

‘Bye Mats Ek?

 

 

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Graham Spicer, aka 'Gramilano', is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.

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