Dance Trend 2024

Sol León & Paul Lightfoot / P. Prado – A. Dominguez – E. Lecuona – R. Barretto – Trio Los Pancho

SAD CASE

“Now in hindsight we realise that energy is everything. When we created Sad Case in 1998, so far in to Sol’s pregnancy, the hormones were jumping and emotions were high.  It is these hormones of laughter, madness and the trepidation of the unknown ahead that are the umbilical chord of this work,” says the British Paul Lightfoot, thinking back to the origin of the ballet. He and his partner, the Spanish Sol León share credit for the performance’s choreography and set and costume designs. Up until 2020, León worked as artistic consultant and Lightfoot as artistic director for the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), where they were responsible for bringing about sixty creations, including Sad Case, which is undoubtedly one of the pillars of their work. In it, surprising movements set to Mexican mambo music reflect the ongoing search for the tension between the satirical and the serious. The Opera has long planned the staging of this irresistible modern piece for Hungarian audiences – and by way of it, the art of the world-famous Lightfoot.

Program and cast

Choreographer
Sol León
Paul Lightfoot
Music
Perez Prado
Alberto Dominguez
Ernesto Lecuona
Ray Barretto
Trio Los Panchos
Lighting designer
Tom Bevoort
Set and costume designer
Sol León
Paul Lightfoot
Co-stager
Menghan Lou
Company répétiteurs
Menghan Lou
Marianna Venekei
Girls
Kristina Starostina
Miyu Takamori
Boys
Valerio Palumbo
Motomi Kiyota
Francesco Sardella