32nd International Choreographic Competition Hanover

 Image left: Rüdiger Schwieger, Gerlinde Liedtke, Ruth Schwieger, Kurt Liedtke – Image right: Ivana Mastroviti, Philippe Kratz

Congratulations to Philippe Kratz for his exciting work “O“.

At the 32nd International Choreographic Competition Hanover, Philippe Kratz has won the Tanja Liedtke Scholarship with his choreography “O”. Kratz also won the first prize in this competition.

The Tanja Liedtke Scholarship provides travel and a 3 week residency with the Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide. Garry Stewart, Director ADT, and one of the judges at the ICCH, selected this most talented artist for the scholarship. Kratz is currently a dancer at the Aterballetto in Italy.

The inspiration for  “O“ is eternity, and how attaining it is humanity’s ultimate goal. As in the summer of 2017 in Hongkong for the very first time two humanoid robots vocally interacted with one another it became clear, to whoever was watching, that a future, in which accumulated human knowledge is passed on by communicating inorganic material, is within reach. Therefore “O“ can be seen as two human beings or two robots celebrating in a state of transcendence and emotional fulfilment, both moving to the never-ending beat of their unstoppable hearts.

Philippe Kratz was born in 1985 in Leverkusen. After studying at the École Supérieure de Danse du Québec in Montreal, he moved to the Berlin State Ballet School. In 2006 Xin Peng Wang engaged him for the Ballet Dortmund. In 2008 Mauro Bigonzetti brought him to Italy as a soloist to Aterballetto.

Kratz has choreographed smaller works such as the pas de deux “Lettres d’amour” (2012), the relationship between Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and the meditation on happiness “SPRING” (2013 ), which passed into the repertoire of the company. His work “SENTieri” gave him a presentation as a choreographer-newcomer in the magazine TANZ in December 2014. In November 2015 he presented his first two works commissioned by Aterballetto: the Pas de deux “#hybrid“ and “L’eco dell’acqua”, a piece for the entire company about Goethe’s “Song of the Spirits over the Waters”. Both pieces were shown at Aterballetto on his European, Asian and South American tours.

„O“ the never-ending beat of their unstoppable hearts –  Ivana Mastroviti, Philippe Kratz