A new creation for Hanover! Already in 2019, the Cretan choreographer Andonis Foniadakis enchanted the audience in Hanover with the athletic dance language of his ballet Kosmos: With great virtuosity, he explores the dancers’ movement spectrum, creating such a fascinating, electrifying atmosphere that the entire space seems to crackle with concentrated dance energy.

The chosen topic is by no means incidental. Icarus, a character from Greek mythology, embodies the yearning of mankind to rise beyond their limitations. His story, where he is given wings and – against the warnings of his father Daedalus – flies too close to the sun, only to fall and fail, has inspired the imagination of humanity since its beginnings.

Andonis Foniakis’ wings are dance. Dance allowed him to leave his native island of Crete as a young man and to complete his training, which he had begun in Athens, at the Rudra Béjart School in Lausanne. His movement vocabulary on stage expresses a raw, wild energy and appears to fathom internal, initially contradictory powers.

The choreographer places great value on the simultaneity of fragility and strength in dance: The human body, seemingly so strong and present on stage, is in truth often the most vulnerable of all. In dance, he is driven by the same question as the eponymous character Icarus: How close can you get to the sun without burning?

Together with Julien Tarride, who will create an electro-acoustic commissioned composition for this piece, Andonis Foniadakis will develop a full-length ballet for the company of the State Ballet of Hanover.