Masters in Motion: Forsythe / Pite

English National Ballet is proud to return to Poland and Łódź Ballet Festival for the first time since 2017.

Crystal Pite’s Body and Soul (Part 1) is a hypnotic work that explores our response to loss and the complex, conflicting emotions that follow. It opens with two dancers in black suits and white shirts, bathed in a stark light. They move to a voice, speaking in French, describing their actions. As the words repeat in loops and echoes, the duet swells to a crowd, seamlessly blending precision and fluidity and morphing into mesmerising waves of movement across the stage.

William Forsythe has been pushing ballet to its limits for decades – and continues to do so. His piece Playlist (EP) combines ballet classicism and athleticism with an unexpected soundtrack of pop, r’n’b and house – including Barry White and Natalie Cole. The result? Pure joy! It will leave you “with a great giddy grin on your face” (The Telegraph).