Masters in Motion: Forsythe / Pite

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Overview

Experience the bold, boundary-pushing work of Crystal Pite and William Forsythe.

English National Ballet performs in Azerbaijan for the first time as part of the Baku International Arts Festival, bringing works by two master choreographers.

Crystal Pite’s Body and Soul (Part 1) is a hypnotic work that explores themes of conflict and connectedness. 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.

“Crystal Pite’s group formations take my breath away… it’s stunning and the company dazzles” (The Sunday Mirror)

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!

“Guaranteed to leave you with a great giddy grin on your face” (The Telegraph).

An exhilarating joyride… sends you into the night singing. The moves are fleet and flirtatious, virtuosic and vivacious

The Times

Hypnotic is barely adequate to describe the scene which unfolded on stage. Pite masterfully moved her dancers like a flock of birds, a murmuration, within high and low tides

Bachtrack on Body and Soul (Part 1)

Dressed in electric pink and blue, it’s a piece of helium buoyancy, letting the dancers ignite their best fireworks… I could watch it again right this second

The Standard

Crystal Pite's group formations take my breath away... it's stunning and the company dazzles

Sunday Mirror

Irresistibly bouncy

New York Times

Pite’s alchemical skills allow her abstract dance to speak deeply and affectingly to emotional truths, the concentrated detail of her work adding rich layers at every turn.

The Stage on Body and Soul (Part 1)

Learn more

Creative Team – Body & Soul (Part I)

Crystal Pite – Choreography
Owen Belton – Music
Frédéric Chopin – Additional Music
Marina Hands – Voice
Jay Gower Taylor – Scenography
Nancy Bryant – Costume Design
Tom Visser – Lighting Design
Eric Beauchesne – Stager
Spencer Dickhaus – Stager
Jermaine Spivey – Stager

Creative Team – Playlist (EP)

William Forsythe – Choreography & Costume Design

Music: Peven Everett ‘Surely Shorty’ (Soul Heaven
Records/BMG); Abra ‘Vegas’ (True Panther Sounds);
Lion Babe ‘Impossible’ (Jax Jones remix) (Polydor
Records/Universal Music Group); Khalid ‘Location’
(Right Hand Music Group); Barry White ‘Sha La La
Means I Love You’ (Warner Chappell); Natalie Cole
‘This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)’ (Capitol Records/
Warner Chappell)

Tanja Rühl – Lighting Design

Performances

Azerbaijan State Musical Theatre

Fri 6 Nov 2026 - Sat 7 Nov 2026
Fri 6 Nov 2026
Sat 7 Nov 2026