About the work
Nachtträume (Night Dreams) is an evening-length dance work by the Spanish choreographer Marcos Morau, created for Ballett Zürich; it was premiered on 30 September 2022 at the Opernhaus Zürich. The music is by Clara Aguilar and the set design by Max Glaenzel. Its starting point is Kurt Jooss's famous anti-war ballet The Green Table (Der grüne Tisch, 1932), whose motifs Morau takes up and weaves together with quotations from dance history. The roughly 90-minute work was hailed as one of Zurich's ballet events of 2022.
Plot
An enigmatic, demonic queen presides over a nightmarish dream world, repeatedly demanding "Love me!". In interlocking ensemble tableaux — without classical soloists, as a collective feat of the whole company — Morau unfolds a panopticon of present-day power structures: powerlessness and blind obedience, vanity, envy and greed. In a black-and-white aesthetic evoking silent film and cabaret, destruction and hope, menace and sensuality lie close together.
Cultural significance
Nachtträume exemplifies Marcos Morau's distinctive style, which treats dance as image-driven theatre poised between performance art, science fiction and a filigree movement language. Its dialogue with Kurt Jooss's The Green Table links a historic landmark of dance theatre to an unsparing analysis of the present. The piece consolidated Morau's reputation as one of the most sought-after contemporary choreographers and has since been taken up by other companies.