In Three Dimensions

Some art works live off the music of Bach like parasites. They sample him, stage him, ritualize him, dance to him—and often end up sucking the original work dry of its life blood. These semi-new works rarely hold their own in the face of the original. Instead they are banal, merely decorative, or kitsch. But what can art forms and works say to one another when their respective essences are brought into dialogue? One example where true engagement with Bach’s music results in an independent, valid work of art is the production “Mitten wir im Leben sind,” developed by the Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, her dance group Ensembles Rosas, and the cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras. The production probes deep into Bach’s Cello Suites. “I wanted to work with dance for a long time,” explained Queyras. “I looked around a lot, but there were very few choreographers who I felt could really become one with the music. Anne Teresa really gets to the core and creates her own work. These are her Bach Suites now.” What exactly is this “core”? What does it mean for a cellist to work with dancers? How does aging and mortality change an artist’s image of himself? I spoke to Queyras the day after a Berlin performance of “Mitten wir im Leben sind.”