William Forsythe

© Wiener Staatsoper

William Forsythe, born in New York in 1949, has been active in the field of choreography for over 50 years. His work is acknowledged for reorienting the practice of ballet from its identification with classical repertoire to a dynamic 21st century art form. Forsythe’s deep interest in the fundamental principles of organization of choreography has led him to produce a wide range of projects including installations, films, and web-based knowledge creation.

Raised in New York and initially trained in Florida with Nolan Dingman and Christa Long, Forsythe danced with the Joffrey Ballet and later the Stuttgart Ballet, where he was appointed Resident Choreographer in 1976. Over the next seven years, he created new works for the Stuttgart ensemble and other ballet companies worldwide. In 1984, he began a 20-year tenure as director of the Ballet Frankfurt, where he created works such as Artifact(1984), Impressing the Czar (1988), Limb’s Theorem (1990), The Loss of Small Detail (1991), Eidos:Telos (1995), Kammer/Kammer (2000) and Decreation (2003).
After the closure of the Ballet Frankfurt in 2004, Forsythe established a new, more independent ensemble, The Forsythe Company, which he directed from 2005 to 2015. Works produced by this ensemble include Three Atmospheric Studies (2005), Human Writes (2005), Heterotopia (2006), I don’t believe in outer space (2008) and Sider (2011). Forsythe’s works developed during this time were performed exclusively by The Forsythe Company, while his earlier pieces are prominently featured in the repertoire of virtually every major ballet company in the world. More recently Forsythe has created original works for the Ballet de l‘Opéra de Paris, English National Ballet, Boston Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballet of La Scala di Milano, as well as A Quiet Evening of Dance produced by Sadler’s Wells Theatre (London) and The Barre Project (Blake Works II) created for the digital stage.
Forsythe has been commissioned to produce architectural and performance installations. These Choreographic Objects, as he calls these works, have been presented in numerous museums and exhibitions, including the Whitney Biennial (New York, 1997), the Louvre Museum (2006), 21_21 Design Sight (Tokyo, 2007), the Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus, 2009), Tate Modern (London, 2009), MoMA (New York 2010) and the Venice Biennale (2005, 2009, 2012, 2014), ICA Boston (2018), Museum Folkwang (2019), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2020) and Kunsthaus Zürich (2021).
In collaboration with media specialists and educators, Forsythe has developed new approaches to dance documentation, research, and education. Core elements of his CD-ROM Improvisation Technologies: A Tool for the Analytical Dance Eye, developed with the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and first published in 1999, are now accessible online (http://www.improvisation-technologies.zkm.de).
In 2002, Forsythe was chosen as the founding Dance Mentor for The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Forsythe is an Honorary Fellow at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London and holds an Honorary Doctorate from The Juilliard School in New York. In 2024, William Forsythe was awarded the Kyoto Prize, an annual award for outstanding achievements in science and art.

The Vienna State Ballet has so far shown Forsythe's Slingerland Pas de deux, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, The Second Detail and Artifact Suite as well as in a gala performance the Duo from Herman Schmerman. In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, commissioned by Rudolf Nureyev for the Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris in 1987, entered in the 2023/24 season for the first time in full length the Viennese repertoire to the striking electronic sounds of his long-time artistic partner Thom Willems.

Performances with William Forsythe

Saison 2024-25
Sat
11 Jan
Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, George Balanchine
Ballett Main Stage
Shifting Symmetries

Cast at Saturday 11. January 2025

Concertante

Musikalische Leitung

Musik

Frank Martin

Choreographie

Bühne & Kostüme

Einstudierung

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated

Musik

Thom Willems in Zusammenarbeit mit Leslie Stuck

Choreographie, Bühne, Kostüme & Licht

Technische Umsetzung Bühne & Licht

Einstudierung

Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet

Musikalische Leitung

Musik

Johannes Brahms in der Bearbeitung für Orchester von Arnold Schönberg

Choreographie

Einstudierung

Available tickets

Saturday 11. January 2025

Area 1 165 €
Area 1

165 €

Area 2 125 €
Area 2

125 €

Area 3 105 €
Area 3

105 €

Area 4 77 €
Area 4

77 €

Area 5 60 €
Area 5

60 €

Area 6 39 €
Area 6

39 €

Area 7 25 €
Area 7

25 €

Area 8 12 €
Area 8

12 €

Area 9 12 €
Area 9

12 €

Standing room
Standing room

Ö1 U27
Ballettzyklus »Moderne Klassiker«

Ticket information

Saison 2024/2025

Ob im Mehrteiler oder Handlungsballett – zeitgenössische Auseinandersetzungen mit der Kunstform Tanz bieten außergewöhnliche Seherfahrungen. 
Tauchen Sie ein in die wunderbare Vielfalt des Balletts!

9. Dezember 2024: DORNRÖSCHEN
11. Jänner 2025: SHIFTING SYMMETRIES
4. April 2025: THE MOON WEARS A WHITE SHIRT
5. Juni 2025: PATHÉTIQUE

Tue
14 Jan
William Forsythe, Hans van Manen, George Balanchine
Ballett Main Stage
Shifting Symmetries

Cast at Tuesday 14. January 2025

Concertante

Musikalische Leitung

Musik

Frank Martin

Choreographie

Bühne & Kostüme

Einstudierung

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated

Musik

Thom Willems in Zusammenarbeit mit Leslie Stuck

Choreographie, Bühne, Kostüme & Licht

Technische Umsetzung Bühne & Licht

Einstudierung

Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet

Musikalische Leitung

Musik

Johannes Brahms in der Bearbeitung für Orchester von Arnold Schönberg

Choreographie

Einstudierung

Available tickets

Tuesday 14. January 2025

Area 1 165 €
Area 1

165 €

Area 2 125 €
Area 2

125 €

Area 3 105 €
Area 3

105 €

Area 4 77 €
Area 4

77 €

Area 5 60 €
Area 5

60 €

Area 6 39 €
Area 6

39 €

Area 7 25 €
Area 7

25 €

Area 8 12 €
Area 8

12 €

Area 9 12 €
Area 9

12 €

Standing room
Standing room

Ö1 U27
Abo 3

Ticket information

Saison 2024/2025

Einen Wochentag und Lieblingsplätze wählen und fünf Vorstellungen in einer Saison genießen.

In diesem Abo sind folgende Vorstellungen enthalten:

22. Oktober 2024: FIN DE PARTIE
14. Jänner 2025: BALLETT: SHIFTING SYMMETRIES
11. Februar 2025: IL TROVATORE
22. April 2025: ARABELLA
03. Juni 2025: CARMEN
 

Thu
16 Jan
Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, George Balanchine
Ballett Main Stage
Shifting Symmetries

Cast at Thursday 16. January 2025

Concertante

Musikalische Leitung

Musik

Frank Martin

Choreographie

Bühne & Kostüme

Einstudierung

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated

Musik

Thom Willems in Zusammenarbeit mit Leslie Stuck

Choreographie, Bühne, Kostüme & Licht

Technische Umsetzung Bühne & Licht

Einstudierung

Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet

Musikalische Leitung

Musik

Johannes Brahms in der Bearbeitung für Orchester von Arnold Schönberg

Choreographie

Einstudierung

Available tickets

Thursday 16. January 2025

Area 1 165 €
Area 1

165 €

Area 2 125 €
Area 2

125 €

Area 3 105 €
Area 3

105 €

Area 4 77 €
Area 4

77 €

Area 5 60 €
Area 5

60 €

Area 6 39 €
Area 6

39 €

Area 7 25 €
Area 7

25 €

Area 8 12 €
Area 8

12 €

Area 9 12 €
Area 9

12 €

Standing room
Standing room

Ö1 U27
Abo 19

Ticket information

Saison 2024/2025

Einen Wochentag und Lieblingsplätze wählen und fünf Vorstellungen in einer Saison genießen.

In diesem Abo sind folgende Vorstellungen enthalten:

07. November 2024: BILLY BUDD
19. Dezember 2024: LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN
16. Jänner 2025: BALLETT: SHIFTING SYMMETRIES
13. März 2025: DON CARLO
10. April 2025: SALOME
 

Sat
18 Jan
Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, George Balanchine
Ballett Main Stage
Shifting Symmetries

Cast at Saturday 18. January 2025

Concertante

Musikalische Leitung

Musik

Frank Martin

Choreographie

Bühne & Kostüme

Einstudierung

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated

Musik

Thom Willems in Zusammenarbeit mit Leslie Stuck

Choreographie, Bühne, Kostüme & Licht

Technische Umsetzung Bühne & Licht

Einstudierung

Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet

Musikalische Leitung

Musik

Johannes Brahms in der Bearbeitung für Orchester von Arnold Schönberg

Choreographie

Einstudierung

Available tickets

Saturday 18. January 2025

Area 1 165 €
Area 1

165 €

Area 2 125 €
Area 2

125 €

Area 3 105 €
Area 3

105 €

Area 4 77 €
Area 4

77 €

Area 5 60 €
Area 5

60 €

Area 6 39 €
Area 6

39 €

Area 7 25 €
Area 7

25 €

Area 8 12 €
Area 8

12 €

Area 9 12 €
Area 9

12 €

Standing room
Standing room

Ö1 U27
Thu
23 Jan
Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, George Balanchine
Ballett Main Stage
Shifting Symmetries

Cast at Thursday 23. January 2025

Concertante

Musikalische Leitung

Musik

Frank Martin

Choreographie

Bühne & Kostüme

Einstudierung

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated

Musik

Thom Willems in Zusammenarbeit mit Leslie Stuck

Choreographie, Bühne, Kostüme & Licht

Technische Umsetzung Bühne & Licht

Einstudierung

Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet

Musikalische Leitung

Musik

Johannes Brahms in der Bearbeitung für Orchester von Arnold Schönberg

Choreographie

Einstudierung

Available tickets

Thursday 23. January 2025

Area 1 165 €
Area 1

165 €

Area 2 125 €
Area 2

125 €

Area 3 105 €
Area 3

105 €

Area 4 77 €
Area 4

77 €

Area 5 60 €
Area 5

60 €

Area 6 39 €
Area 6

39 €

Area 7 25 €
Area 7

25 €

Area 8 12 €
Area 8

12 €

Area 9 12 €
Area 9

12 €

Standing room
Standing room

Ö1 U27
Abo 20

Ticket information

Saison 2024/2025

Einen Wochentag und Lieblingsplätze wählen und fünf Vorstellungen in einer Saison genießen.

In diesem Abo sind folgende Vorstellungen enthalten:

03. Oktober 2024: DON CARLO
28. November 2024: IL RITORNO D’ULISSE IN PATRIA
23. Jänner 2025: BALLETT: SHIFTING SYMMETRIES
17. April 2025: PARSIFAL
12. Juni 2025: DER ROSENKAVALIER