Gauthier Dance/ Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart
At Jacob's Pillow
By: Charles Giuliano - Aug 04, 2026
Gauthier Dance/ Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart
Jacob’s Pillow
Ted Shawn Theatre
McCain Stage
July 29-August 2, 2026
Artistic Director, Eric Gauthier
Dancers: Rebecca Amoroso, Bruna Andrade, Tuti Cedeno, Andrew Cummings, Karlijn Dedrood, Stefano Gallelli, Garance Goutard-Dekeyser, Barbara Melo Freire, Shai Ottolengi, Luca Pannacci, Alexandra Policaro, Arnau Redorta Ortiz, Sidney Elizabeth Turtschi, Giovanni Visone, Shawn Wu, Shori Yamamoto
Part One
The Fireworks Project (2025)
Idea and concept, Eric Gauthier
Costume design, Gudrun Schretzmeir and the choreographers
The Gathering
Choreography, Barak Marshall in collaboration with the dancers
Music, Fanfare Ciocarlia si suite, Moliendo Café
Fully Blue
Choreography, Maura Bigonzetti
Music, Chet Baker, I’m Old Fashioned
Hold Me Now
Choreography, Dominique Dumais
Music, Laurie Anderson, O Superman
Ritual in Ruin
Choreography, Rena Butler
Music, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Awakening, Nandi
Charlie
Choreography Sofia Nappi
Music, Charles Aznavour, La Boheme (Italian Version)
A Thousand Thoughts
Choreography Johan Inger
Music, Kronos Quartet, Bells, Tusen Tankar
Thinking About
Choreography Stijn Celis
Music, Bobby McFerrin, Thinking About Your Body
Carousel
Choreography, Virginie Brunelle
Music, Philip Glass, Les enfants terribles, Arrangement for piano duet: II, Paul is Dying
Hymn to Freedom
Choreography, Benjamin Millepied
Music, Oscar Peterson Trio, Hymn to Freedom
The End
Choreography, Barak Marshall
Music, Fanfare, Ciocorlia, Dusty Road
Part Two
Alone (2024)
Choreography and costume design, Sharon Eyal
Soundtrack design, Josef Laimon
Music, Eliza
Lighting design, Alan Cohen
Ballet 101 (2006)
Choreography, Eric Gauthier
Sound Collage Eric Gauthier, Jens-Peter Abele
Costume and Lighting, Eric Gauthier
Bolero
Choreography, Andondis Foniadakis
Music, Maurice Ravel
Lighting, Sakis Birbilis
Costumes, Anastasios Sofroniau
A native of Montreal, Eric Gauthier initially aspired to become a hockey goalie. He started training with Les Grandes Ballets Canadiens and then the National Ballet School under artistic director Reid Anderson. When he departed to become director of Stuttgart Ballet Gauthier went with him rising in the ranks of the company as dancer and choreographer.
In 2007 he formed his own company and initiated a relationship with Theaterhaus Stuttgart an arts complex with four theatres, rehearsal space and diverse genres. Initially risky the company has grown to enjoy stability and global recognition. His works have been set onto many companies.
In remarks introducing the final performance of yet another engagement at Jacob’s Pillow he was informative and engaging. They were about to take a six week vacation with two dancers leaving the company. He was most generous in focusing on the company. Unlike many renowned choreographers only one work was featured in a program of thirteen dances.
Part of that was a desire to celebrate the unique quality and diversity of Theaterhouse Stuttgart. He commissioned nine choreographers to create ten dances as elements of The Fireworks Project. For this he opened up the stage exposing the barn-like back wall. There were flanking rows of folding chairs and behind that carts with hanging costume changes. The central area where they performed reflecting the Fireworks theme was a resonant blood orange.
With a fanfare Barak Marshall was tasked with bookending the suite of works. The Gathering was a zesty, exuberant romp for 16 dancers. It got the juices flowing as the dancers ended by retiring to their seats.
The second piece Fully Blue by Mauro Bigonzetti was set to the soulful “I’m Old Fashioned” by Chet Baker. The trumpeter is also one of my favorite jazz singers and the melancholy duet had me fall to pieces. It was one of those works I can never get enough of.
Talk about a mood swing, Hold Me Now to music by Laurie Anderson could not have been more different. Dominque Dumais conveys her techno distortions in the robotic cluster of eight dancers. Now and then one pops out with some individualism but conveys the prevailing mood of post apocalyptic futurism through Anderson’s familiar artistic prism.
An Afro rhythm prevailed in Ritual in Ruin. Charlie for seven dancers was built on a song by Charles Aznavour. The Kronos Quartet brought solemnity to the duet A Thousand Thoughts. It was back to jazz with Bobby McFerrin in Thinkin About.
One of the most intriguing and challenging works of the evening entailed how Virginie Brunelle used music of Philip Glass in Carousel for seven dancers. She exploits his complex rhythms in a rational and explicating manner. The dance helps us to untangle and understand the music.
We settled back in with Oscar Peterson’s Hymn to Freedom by Benjamin Millipied then ended Part One with The End by Barak Marshall. It was just that.
Compared to the frenetic pace of Part One, the second half of the program let us settle in with three astonishing works.
The first, Alone, is choreographed by Sharon Eyal. In flesh colored unitards the sixteen dancers form a tight cluster with an emphasis on the whole rather than the sum of its parts. With a steady hypnotic beat they snake about in a hypnotic manner. The women, though barefoot, arch their feet as though wearing high heels. It must be excruciatingly difficult.
With Ballet 101 there was finally a work by Gauthier. It was worth the wait and restraint as the now familiar, signature piece is often performed by a range of renowned dancers. In this case, by the astonishing soloist Shori Yamamoto.
It’s a fun spoof on ballet which is based on just five positions. A narrator speculates on the possibility of expanding to a hundred positions. Once that is accomplished the narrator randomly calls them by number as, with comic precision, Yamanoto raced to keep pace. It was an experience I will never forget.
How do you possibly follow that?
With that old warhorse Bolero by Maurice Ravel. You may have heard it countless times, but, trust me, never like this.
Sakis Birbilis has choreographed it for trampolines. Initially, one dancer comes on stage with an individual trampoline. To the repetitive sound of snare drum and horns the dancer gets into a groove. At intervals others join until there are 13 all moving in sync. By then the audience feels it in their bones. The performance ended with thunderous applause.