Hubert Essakow

“Hubert Essakow is working with the Ballett am Rhein for the first time. Evidently he has been drawn most to the company’s talent for sinister and sensual ballet performances: some form of desire for pain drives the dancers on his stage. One woman is carried by a group of dancers using nothing but their hands

“Essakow’s intense work, which declines the fatal web of relationships to the point of torture, dwells in a world of shadows fraught with symbols up until its enigmatic and triumphant finale.” Regine Müller, Rheinische Post, 31st May 2016

“Gradually the movements transform, starting out as archaic and oddly fascinating in the grey-blue light and becoming increasingly elaborate, until the dancing is done on pointe and finally the evolutionary change finds its culmination with a range of figures being raised up to lofty heights. After the artifice of ballet as an art form was

“Out of the darkness on stage the dancers dressed in black or black and white detach themselves lemur-like from a dense mass of human bodies. In the skilful lighting design of Mark Doubleday the stage lightens only slowly and the figures celebrate movements which become increasingly strict and whose curves appear to be traced with

“Hubert Essakow’s ‘Tenebre’ glows from the very first second. Here we see a choreographer deep into the possibilities of staging, use all the apparatus available to him and create a unity of rare poetic concentration. One wishes to believe that everything about this ballet is brilliant and follows it breathlessly. (…) It’s all incredible: the

“In choosing the most exciting stage design of the season, Merle Hensel has to be a leading candidate with the fascinating images she has found for ‘Tenebre’, the first of this evening’s two world premieres.” Stefan Schmöe, Online Music Magazine, 31. Mai 2016

“As yet little known in Germany, South African-born choreographer Hubert Essakow has been commissioned by Martin Schläpfer to create a new work for his company. ‘Tenebre’ (Darkness) presents an intense contrast of mood to Taylor’s ‘Esplanade’. The proximity of death is tangible, of a human life beyond sunshine and light. The aesthetic of three full

“As he prepares for his first major international commission in Düsseldorf, Hubert Essakow talks about life as a freelance choreographer.”. Read about the full project…