About the work
Angels'' Atlas is a dance work by the Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite, created in 2020 for the National Ballet of Canada. The Staatsballett Berlin took it into its repertoire in 2024 as the second part of the double bill "Overture". To a musical collage of works by Owen Belton, Morten Lauridsen and Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Pite develops a piece of meditative beauty about transience and the unknown beyond life.
Plot
The work is dominated by a large, constantly shifting wall of light at the back — a magical interplay of cloud wisps, crystals, sparks and veils that acts like a threshold between this world and the beyond. Before it, the ensemble moves as a fragile human collective, swelling and ebbing away again. Pite combines modern and neoclassical movement into images of great pull, from which individual couples emerge in lyrical pas de deux. The piece reflects on mortality, orientation and the mystery of death.
Cultural significance
Crystal Pite is among the most sought-after choreographers of the present; Angels'' Atlas is one of her most performed and acclaimed works. The combination of precise ensemble direction, overwhelming lighting dramaturgy and emotional depth makes the work a highlight of contemporary ballet and drew special attention to the Staatsballett double bill.