The Hamburg Ballet received strong applause for the premiere of «Äther» by Aleix Martínez at the Hamburg State Opera. The contemporary choreography draws on themes from Bournonville's «La Sylphide» and contrasts them with dark images of environmental destruction. The first part of the evening featured a historical staging of Bournonville's classic.
The ballet evening «Romantic Evolution/s» at the Hamburg State Opera featured the premiere of «Äther», choreographed by Aleix Martínez, who has been principal soloist with the Hamburg Ballet since 2021. Martínez reinterprets motifs from August Bournonville's «La Sylphide» – such as the Scottish farmer James falling in love with an ethereal spirit – in a modern, dark world marked by environmental destruction and catastrophes. Jack Bruce dances James as a seeker who leaves his fiancée and follows her into the woods.
The stage, designed by Martínez, is sparse with a tree stump, a chair, and a staircase in a square frame. Xue Lin portrays the Sylph, Gabriel Barbosa the Silpho, joined by mystical figures and wanderers. To music by Péteris Vasks, expressive group tableaus develop. Hayley Page and Florian Pohl perform an intense pas de deux to Arvo Pärt.
This existential approach provides a stark contrast to the classical «La Sylphide» in the first half, oriented on the 1836 premiere by the Royal Danish Ballet. Ida Praetorius shines delicately as La Sylphide, Matias Oberlin as the leaping James, and Francesco Cortese as the rival Gurn. The performance blends beauty and longing with much darkness.