Without Words. Duende. Prelude
triple bill by Nacho Duato
Magical in its strangeness, the ballet is a journey into the secret world of nature ‘where elves laugh and play in the spring’. According to the choreographer Nacho Duato, ‘duende’ is the Spanish name for magical people. They are inhabitants of another world, friendly to humans, who can easily do headstands. They draw squares and triangles with their feet in the air, jump on each other's shoulders, dissolve in the air, instantly disappearing from view. In this ballet, the audience is invited to surrender themselves to the fantasy world and be transported to a dimension where the ordinary laws of human life lose their power and significance.
World première: NDT at the AT&T Danstheater, the Hague, 21 November 1991
Russian première: Mikhailovsky Theatre, 15 March 2011
Choreography: Nacho Duato
Stage Designer: Walter Nobbe
Costume Designer: Susan Unger
Lighting Designer: Nicolás Fischtel
Choreographer's Assistants: Tony Fabre, Eva Maria Lopez Crevillen