Dido and Aeneas: a choreographic opera

Sasha Waltz’s radical re-telling of Henry Purcell’s Baroque opera, Dido & Aeneas has been announced ahead of the rest of the program, as the centerpiece of the Sydney Festival in January 2014.

The oldest love story in English opera, this tragic tale of unrequited love is brought to life by sixty dancers, singers and musicians at the Sydney Lyric from 16 to 21 January 2014.

Described in the media release as ‘reigning queen of contemporary German dance-theatre’, Waltz casts both a dancer and singer in each role and tells the story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, who reluctantly falls in love with the shipwrecked Aeneas. Later, Dido is brutally rejected when he is deceived into leaving her, and she takes her own life.

As it’s the sea that brings Aeneas to Dido and takes him away again, it is not surprising that Waltz uses water as a central motif in her realisation of the myth. Waltz opens the show in a visually arresting fashion – an aquatic prologue, where a giant water tank, almost spanning the entire width of the stage, is raised several metres off the floor. From a ladder, dancers climb to the top of the tank to gaze and point at the audience, and then plunge in ducking, diving and weaving their steps, staying submerged for impossibly long times.

"The initial idea was to follow the track of Aeneas's sea journey from Troy to Carthage," said Waltz. "It's partly to do with the idea of a lost culture - metaphorically we dive to discover it, like looking for a sunken city."

Waltz’s choreography is always inventive and her sense of theatre is quirky and eye-catching. She incorporates the singers and the musicians into the action and what is sung is illuminated by the dancers.

Dido & Aeneas features costumes by Berlin fashion designer Christine Birkle.

Festival Director, Lieven Bertels, fell in love with the work when he first saw it in Berlin, and says “Sasha is one of the few choreographers of her generation that has such a fantastic talent for large-scale work. Whilst she’s not afraid to zoom in on minute details, to freeze time or to paint delicate water colours, she is at ease on the wide open stages of opera houses, and she knows how to captivate an audience.”

Purcell’s evocative score is performed live by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin conducted by Christopher Moulds, an esteemed conductor of Baroque music. They are joined by French mezzo-soprano Aurore Ugolin (Dido) British baritone Reuben Willcox (Aeneas), and chamber choir, Vocalconsort Berlin.

Choreography & Direction Sasha Waltz

Musical production & reconstruction Attilio Cremonesi

Musical direction Christopher Moulds

Stage Thomas Schenk & Sasha Waltz

Costumes Christine Birkle

Lighting Thilo Reuther

Dido Aurore Ugolin (Song)

Yael Schnell (Dance)

Michal Mualem (Dance)

Aeneas Reuben Willcox (Song)

Virgis Puodziunas (Dance)

Orchestra Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

Choir Vocalconsort Berlin

Where Sydney Lyric, Pyrmont

When 16, 17, 20 & 21 January at 8pm

19 January at 5pm

Duration 100 minutes with no interval

Price Premium: $199

A Reserve: $155, $130

B Reserve: $99, $85

C Reserve: $55, $45

Bookings Ticketmaster: 1300 723 038; ticketmaster.com.au