Ballet

Different Grounds

Stephanie Lake · Julian Nicosia · Shahar Binyamini

This ballet evening showcases three world premieres of innovative dance styles from three continents

Three-part ballet evening

Premiere
31. October 2026

Dates & Cast

Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites
Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites
Dresden Day
Tickets
Duration
Starting Time: 7 pm
Free introductory talk
held in the Semper Opera House cellar 45 minutes before curtain-up
Guided tour through the Semperoper
Save date
Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites

This performance contains occasional high sound levels, and heavy bass frequencies may be felt physically. Strobe lighting effects are used.

Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites
Matinee Performance
Tickets
Duration
Starting Time: 12 pm
Free introductory talk
held in the Semper Opera House cellar 45 minutes before curtain-up
Save date
Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites

This performance contains occasional high sound levels, and heavy bass frequencies may be felt physically. Strobe lighting effects are used.

Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites
Tickets
Duration
Starting Time: 7 pm
Free introductory talk
held in the Semper Opera House cellar 45 minutes before curtain-up
Guided tour through the Semperoper
Save date
Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites

This performance contains occasional high sound levels, and heavy bass frequencies may be felt physically. Strobe lighting effects are used.

Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites
Tickets
Duration
Starting Time: 7 pm
Free introductory talk
held in the Semper Opera House cellar 45 minutes before curtain-up
Guided tour through the Semperoper
Save date
Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites

This performance contains occasional high sound levels, and heavy bass frequencies may be felt physically. Strobe lighting effects are used.

Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites
Tickets
Duration
Starting Time: 8 pm
Free introductory talk
held in the Semper Opera House cellar 45 minutes before curtain-up
Guided tour through the Semperoper
Save date
Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites

This performance contains occasional high sound levels, and heavy bass frequencies may be felt physically. Strobe lighting effects are used.

Quanta
A Quiet Collision
Body Suites

In brief

Which language connects every country on Earth? Dance can be found across the globe, yet this language is not “spoken” with the same accent everywhere. Different Grounds brings three choreographic perspectives from three continents to the Semperoper stage. Three choreographers, Stephanie Lake from Australia (Quanta), Julian Nicosia from France (A Quiet Collision), and Shahar Binyamini from Israel (Body Suites), have created a new work for the main stage of the Semperoper for the first time, whilst also designing the lighting and costumes.
Despite their differences, the three choreographers are united by a common approach: they draw strong inspiration from the dancers with whom they jointly develop the movement vocabulary. As the dancers were trained in classical ballet, amongst other styles, numerous ballet elements found their way into the work of the contemporary choreographers, from the five foot positions to pointe shoes. Thus, the three parts of the ballet evening Different Grounds not only build bridges between different dance styles, but also between tradition and modernity.

With Quanta, Stephanie Lake, Artist in Residence of the Semperoper Ballett, has created a highly dynamic group piece; fast, rhythmic passages alternate with moments in which the dancers move as if in slow motion. The title, which in physics refers to the smallest indivisible units, relates to the dancers: they are the elementary particles of every choreography, coming together to form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. In Quanta, Lake is concerned with the connection between tradition and modernity: she incorporates ballet elements such as classical foot and arm positions in her contemporary vocabulary. The electronic score has been composed specially for Quanta by Lake’s long-term partner Robin Fox.

In A Quiet Collision, Julian Nicosia explores the theme of instinct, embodied by a black figure. Nicosia sketches the natural, anxiety-free connection of a child with his instinct, a connection which is increasingly lost as he grows up. In A Quiet Collision, a group initially dances in a neoclassical style that stretches, bends and breaks the vocabulary of ballet; towards the end, each performer dances on their own in a contemporary, more earthbound style. The music is an original score by the Swiss composers Michael Anklin and Janiv Oron.

Body Suites by Shahar Binyamini is inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites, performed live on stage by a cellist from the Sächsische Staatskapelle. Through their individual interpretations, the dancers navigate the tension between freedom and unity, between personal expression and collective movement. Binyamini’s ongoing investigation of the body in relation to gravity also takes a new form in Body Suites, where pointe work is used for the first time by both male and female dancers.
 

Explore

Fokus

Fokus Different Grounds

Gallery
Ballett-ABC

Ballett-ABC: Instinct

Stell dir vor, ...

Different Grounds - Body Suites

Recommendations

Szene „Vertical Road“

Wings and Feathers

Zweiteiliger Ballettabend | Stephanie Lake · Akram Khan  
»Carmen«

Carmen

Ballett in zwei Akten by Johan Inger  
back to top
back to top