HELIKOPTER / LICHT (2025 Creation)
Watch the video teaser
Six propellers-dancer trace their trajectories across Stockhausen’s famous Helikopter-quartet. Holger Förterer’s videos projected onto the floor expose them to rotations of light. Angelin Preljocaj presents a radical, whirring dance before sharing his new creation, LICHT.
« Upon first hearing Helikopter Quartet’ by Karlheinz Stockhausen, the idea of creating a choreography to this music did not cross my mind at all since this work seemed to erode, at each turn of the helix, the actual foundations of a relationship between music and dance.
It is, in fact, for this reason that, on a second hearing, the jubilatory desire to confront the intertwining helix turbines and the glissandi of the Arditti Quatuor irrepressibly emerged.
The challenge of this creation is to expose six dancers to the wild, techno-organic rhythms of this piece by Stockhausen. »
Angelin Preljocaj
Your 2025 creation is coupled with a 2001 piece entitled Helikopter, can you tell us more about the theme?
Angelin Preljocaj: This year’s creation is indirectly related to Helikopter as I always try to come up with a dramaturgy and consistency in our evenings that present a number of different pieces. Helikopter is an old piece of mine, set to Stockhausen’s commanding, powerful music, and any piece set to his music has to be able to withstand that power. This is why I’m working on a lightfilled creation, with sunbeams escaping from storm clouds, as a sort of metaphor for our times that speaks to true human connections.
Can we call it a futuristic utopia?
A.P.: We are living in relatively dark times, but I can definitely see a glimmer of light. Through the anxiety, or the apparent darkening, I truly believe that it is possible to come to some irreversible realisations. Even though conservatism is boomeranging back on us, society continues to move forward, and the outcome has, in no way, been decided. This is a pivotal time in our civilisation, hence the feeling of instability. That is what I want to express through this creation.
How does this theme translate into your choreography?
A.P.: I always try to find a way into the theme I am dealing with. However, as the creative process itself unfurls, it dictates the outcome based on the ideas we just mentioned.
What music have you chosen?
A.P.: Well, given that Stockhausen is considered to be the “grandfather of electronic music”, I looked to his putative grandchildren, and the first one who came to mind was Laurent Garnier, who is, for me, a direct descendant of Stockhausen’s and someone I have already worked with. We get a vibration and an energy from the music that feels like the future, with a sort of immense feeling of freedom, as well as a need for respect, inclusion and tolerance that comes from the new generation.