Welcome to Popo's and Pipi's kingdoms!
Christian Spuck found the material for his fifth full-length ballet in the 1838 comic, political satire Leonce and Lena, by Georg Büchner, author of Woyzeck. The ballet had its première in April 2008, at the Aalto Theatre in Essen, Germany.
Leonce, the prince of the kingdom of Popo, is languishing in utter boredom. Lena, the princess of the neighbouring kingdom of Pipi, suffers miserably from the confines and absurdity of the world. Before the two royal misfits can begin their romance, they must first remove themselves from the self-serving, petty conventions of their respective tiny kingdoms. Betrothed to each other in infancy, they flee their kingdoms instead of facing the prospect of an arranged marriage. But, in a bustling inn just beyond the border, the two meet and fall in love. The court, reduced to an absurd "puppet show", can finally rejoice at the union.
The choreography underscores the work's satire. Büchner used satire to criticize his society, which was held prisoner by an end-of-reign absolutism. One of the ways that Christian Spuck illustrates this is by using the music of Johann Strauss. The Waltz King's light-hearted, occasionally amusing tunes whip this tragicomic tale along, underlining the parody.
A chorus of praise
Spuck's Leonce and Lena was a great success and received a chorus of praise when first staged in Germany, earning him a nomination for "best choreography" at Germany's Der Faust theatre awards.
"The audience in the Aalto Theatre literally gushed with enthusiasm on the opening night of Christian Spuck's entertaining ballet. ... The director of the Essen Ballet wanted 'something amusing' from Stuttgart Ballet's resident choreographer. He got a masterpiece." Ruhr News
"Comedy, gaiety and even bitter sarcasm dominate this dance version of Leonce and Lena, an electrifying merry-go-round of music and images. ... Rarely does one see a stage version of Büchner's work that can make his world-weariness so entertaining. ...Spuck creates an infinite number of original moves to express Büchner's brilliant irony as well as the almost freewheeling languor of his characters." - Nord-Rhein Zeitung
"Until now, never has a German stage seen a comic ballet of such magnitude..." www.tanznetz.de
