William Forsythe (choreographer)

This article is about the choreographer. For the actor, see William Forsythe (actor).

William Forsythe (born December 30, 1949 in New York City) is an American dancer and choreographer resident in Frankfurt am Main in Hessen. He is known internationally for his work with the Ballet Frankfurt (1984–2004) and The Forsythe Company (2005–present). His early works attempt to link the principals and practice of ballet in its classical identity to a more modern, 21st century form. Forsythe creates his work with a high regard to the principles of organization; Forsythe often incorporates installations, film, and other modern technological venues into his work.

Forsythe began his professional career as a dancer with the Joffrey Ballet, and later he joined the Stuttgart Ballet. After choreographing ballets around the world in major markets such as New York City, London, and San Francisco, Forsythe became the director of the Ballet Frankfurt. For twenty years, he created major ballet works, including Artifact in 1984 and Endless House in 1999. During this first part of his career, Forsythe created ballets that major ballet companies around the world have frequently included in their seasonal repertoire. These companies include The Kirov Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, and The New York City Ballet.

Forsythe has since continued his choreographic career by creating his own independent ensemble, the Forsythe Company. Based in Germany, the company frequently and consistently tours internationally. Whereas Forsythe's earlier ballets have been featured frequently in repertoires of several ballet companies, his works created during this latter, independent portion of his career have only been performed by the Forsythe Company.

In addition, Forsythe has further developed methods of dance documentation and research. In 1994, he created a computer application entitled "Improvisation Technologies: A Tool for the Analytical Dance Eye." According to the Forsythe Company website, this revolutionary computer program for dance, "developed with the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, is used as a teaching tool by professional companies, dance conservatories, universities, postgraduate architecture programs, and secondary schools worldwide."

Forsythe has produced and collaborated on numerous installation works, including White Bouncy Castle (1997, in collaboration with Dana Caspersen and Joel Ryan), City of Abstracts (2000), Scattered Crowd (2002), airdrawing|whenever on on on nohow on (2004, collaborating with Peter Welz), and You made me a monster (2005). Installation works by Forsythe have been shown at the Louvre Museum, Venice Biennale, Artangel in London, Creative Time in New York, the Renaissance Society in Chicago, and other prominent locations. His short film Solo was presented at the 1997 Whitney Biennial. In 2006, a major exhibition of his performance, film and installation work was presented at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.

Selected works

1976 Urlicht 1983 Gänge 1983 France/Dance 1984 Artifact 1986 Isabelle's Dance 1986 Die Befragung des Robert Scott 1987 In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated 1988 Impressing the Czar 1990 Limb's Theorem 1991 The Second Detail 1991 Loss of Small Detail 1992 ALIE/N A(C)TION 1994 Self Meant to Govern

1995 Eidos:Telos 1996 The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude 1999 Endless House 2000 One Flat Thing, reproduced 2000 Kammer/Kammer 2003 Decreation 2005 Three Atmospheric Studies 2005 You made me a monster 2006 Heterotopia 2007 The Defenders 2008 Yes we can't 2008 I Don't Believe in Outer Space 2009 The Returns

External links

• The Forsythe Company
• “Yes we can’t” by William Forsythe, a podcast from ar2com (architecture to communications), which links ballet and architecture
• William Forsythe: 50 Choreographers of Contemporary Dance. Goethe-Instituts Website
• Ballet Magazine interview with William Forsythe
• Nederlands Dans Theater Biography on William Forsythe
• "I can dance again", Sylvia Staude interviews Frankfurt-based choreographer William Forsythe, Sign and Sight dated 21 April 2005 accessed 22 June 2007
• William Forsythe and the Practice of Choreography: It Starts From Any Point (Steven Spier, ed., Routledge, forthcoming February 2011)
• Choreography by William Forsythe on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive accessed 16 July 2011