São Paulo Ballet

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The Balé da Cidade de São Paulo was founded in 1968. It took on new vitality from 1974 onwards under the leadership of Antônio Carlos Cardoso, gaining a distinguished international reputation and maintaining its independence within the framework of the Municipal Theatre. The contemporary idiom of its dancers has been further enriched by the company's Brazilian flavour. With Mônica Mion as its artistic director, it has consolidated its position among the most innovative and original ballet troupes and has accepted the collaboration of top-ranking choreographers. For its debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu it offers a programme representative of its wide and varied repertory. The piece by Gagik Ismailian (created specially for it in 2001) mingles fados sung by Amália Rodrigues with music by Wim Mertens and seeks, in the words of the choreographer, «to use the disquiet and melancholy of the fado to choreograph a love that is constant, violent, and almost tribal».

Perpetuum, on the other hand, is one of Ohad Naharin's most surprising, variegated and popular choreographies. This veritable classic of contemporary dance, performed to waltz rhythms by Johann Strauss II, parodies drama, opera and dance itself in a whirlwind of humour, irony and colour. The programme also features the world premiere of a new work by Cayetano Soto, a choreographer born in Sabadell who is a member of IT Dansa and the Ballett Theater München. Soto's new ballet will be included in the repertory of the Balé da Cidade de São Paulo in its forthcoming international tours.