Ach! Bach!

Bach’s music will come to the Korean stage as a dance.

Spain’s Campañia Nacional de Danza, led by world-renowned dancer and choreographer Nacho Duato (47), will unveil “Multiplicity. Forms of Silence and Emptiness” to Korean audiences. “Multiplicity,” which renders Baroque maestro Johann Sebastian Bach’s life and music in dance, was first created in 1999 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death and is the joint production of Weimar, Germany and Spain’s Campañia Nacional de Danza. The show will be presented on April 30 through May 2 at the Seoul Arts Center Opera House.

The piece opens with a choreographer’s plea to Bach (1685∼1750) for permission to set his music to dance. Within the piece, the dancers perform the music as various musical instruments or embody the melodies as musical notes. Duato’s choreographic genius infuses the show, as bodies and movements give concrete form to Bach’s compositions.

Spanish-born Duato was recruited into the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) in Holland by legendary choreographer Jiri Kylián (57) in the 1980s. After serving as resident choreographer of NDT from 1988, he returned to his home country in 1990 as Artistic Director of Campañia Nacional de Danza, at the age of 33. Under his direction, the company has joined the ranks of the world’s most celebrated dance troupes. Duato’s dances reflect an aesthetic sensibility informed by Spain’s unique national ethos and its long tradition of ballet. His exquisite representations, in which diverse kinds of music are expressed through controlled movements, are famed throughout the world.

Consisting of two acts, “Multiplicity” depicts Bach’s humanity and passion, rather than the religious reverence he often inspires.

The first act begins with a dynamic prologue, set to Glenn Gould’s rendition of the “Goldberg Variations.” The part of choreographer was originally to be played by Duato himself, but a back injury prevented him from traveling to Korea. Following the prologue, 18 dancers take the stage and perform Bach’s Secular Cantatas in buoyant movements under the composer’s own direction. When a pas de deux set to a Prelude from the famous “Suites for Violoncello Solo” begins, with Bach “playing” a female dancer’s body as a cello, one cannot help but marvel at Duato’s inventive genius.

If the first act visualizes the inspiration evoked by Bach’s music in various forms of dance, the second, entitled “Forms of Silence and Emptiness,” delves into the deeper side of Bach through his treatment of the theme of death.

The humor glimpsed throughout the previous act vanishes, and a woman clad in a black skirt and white mask stalks Bach as the somber notes of the “Arts of Fugue” cast a shadow over the stage. The woman represents death, to which Bach eventually succumbs, and the choreographer’s solo marks the finale.

The dancers ceaselessly traverse the stage, giving testimony to Duato’s exceptional talent for utilizing space.

April 30 ~ May 1, 7:30 p.m.; May 2, 4:00 p.m.; 20,000 ~ 100,000 won. (Tel) 1588-7890.

Hyoung-Chan Kim khc@donga.com