Dance drama based on the novel of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The phrase »elective affinities« refers to a chemical process that Goethe quoted in his novel (1809). Film and television have dealt with this material on numerous occasions, but until now only Tom Schilling – the most important choreographer in the GDR – has handled it through dance. His »Wahlverwandtschaften« (»Elective Affinities«) are among the largest action ballets of the end of the 20th century. Schilling, born in Esperstedt / Kyffhäuser in 1928, was director of the Dance theatre of the Komische Oper Berlin in 1966-93 and in 1996 he was awarded the German dance prize in Essen.