Monte-Carlo Ballet closes the 2024/2025 season with two contemporary ballets – one created for  the Company by Lukáš Timulak, and the other for the Kor’sia Ballet by Antonio de Rosa & Mattia Russo.

The first work in the programme is one created by Slovak choreographer Lukáš Timulak who is returning to Monaco, having previously trained at L’Académie Princesse Grace, and been a dancer for the Monte-Carlo Ballet. Timulak subsequently danced with Nederland’s Dans Theatre before becoming a choreographer and movement director, based in the Netherlands.  

He has worked and created with many contemporary choreographers – such as like Jiri Kylian, Wiliam Forsythe, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Paul Lightfoot/Sol Leon, Hans van Manen, Crystal Pite, JC Maillot and Johan Inger – and toured with dance companies around the world in theatres in New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, Singapore, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City and Shanghai.  He has also worked with educational institutions such as the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague, Arts Umbrella Dance in Vancouver and Danse Rosella Hightower in Cannes, and as an independent choreographer has been collaborating with designer Peter Bilak for more than two decades, exploring the possibilities of the performing arts and artistic expression.

Lighting for this production is by Tom Visser, decor by Peter Bilak, and costumes are by Annemarije Van Harten.

Frequent visitors to Monte-Carlo will remember the Kor’sia Company from their recent appearance as part of the Monaco Dance Forum with the ballet Igra.  According to the two choreographers, Antonio de Rosa and Mattia Russo, “Kor’sia was born from the need to communicate through the body, from the need to become visible as creators and performers. Within us lies the desire to harness a language: the language of the body, which goes beyond the verbal”.  Therefore, visual power plays an important role in their musical and theatrical choices, making this Madrid-based company one of the most innovative on the current dance scene.

The Kor’sia Company has been invited to create site specific works with renowned cultural places such as the Museum of Science and the Cosmo of La Laguna, the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao, at Madrid’s Fundacion Mapfre and in Italy at the Spanish Pavilion of the Milan Expo.  It has also been selected as one of the twenty emerging companies from the Aerowawes Europe network in 2019 and has toured with its creations at festivals across Europe, in the United Kingdom, Panama and Tel Aviv.

In this new work, created for Monte-Carlo Ballet, de Rosa and Russo continue to explore natural phenomena and aim to create an “in situ project”, something that will only happen once in a given place, in a world which is constantly changing.

As well as the choreography, they are responsible for both the concept and artistic direction, dramaturgy is by Agnès López-Río and scenography is by Amber Vandenhoeck in collaboration with the choreographers.  The original music is by Alejandro da Rocha and diverse artists, and costume design and creative direction by Luca Guarini.

This double bill of contemporary works by the Monte-Carlo Ballet takes place from July 17th to 20th at the Salle Garnier, Opéra de Monte-Carlo.  Further information and details of ticket reservations can be found on the Monte-Carlo Ballet website.  

All images courtesy Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo