After more than a decade with the Stuttgart Ballet, dancer and choreographer Shaked Heller and I said goodbye to our artistic home.
Originating from the simple working title “If I May,” IIFIMA became a ballet of refined clarity. Symbolically, we dance in a pool of fragmented memories, piecing them together like old ruins to gently build a new nest.
Written for the daughter of renowned dancer and choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre, Mozart’s famous Jeunehomme piano concerto is deeply connected to dance culture. Dancing in water to this music created a unique experience for us that ranged from melancholic to quietly intense. Water carries its own memory and acts as a transmitter of information from ancient times. We are largely made of water ourselves, and as we dance, we leave quiet traces with our sweat.
Following the sound of the piano and interrupted by field recordings of bursting ice — as a reference to the origin and decay of all life — IFIMA is a ballet about farewell and new beginnings.
Credits
Choreography, Costume Design, Concept: Louis Stiens, Shaked Heller
Stage Design: Tom Unthan
Soundtrack, Mix: Anni Nöps
Light Design: Jörg Schuchardt
Rehearsal Director: Sonia Santiago
Dramaturgy: Vivien Arnold
Photography: The Stuttgart Ballet
Dancers (original cast): Angelina Zuccarini, Louis Stiens, Shaked Heller
Premiere: May 29, 2022, The Stuttgart Ballet
Duration: 35’’
