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For the second consecutive year, the dancer and choreographer José Carlos Martínez will be responsible for the New Year’s concert in Vienna.
After the success achieved in the broadcast of the 2020 edition, the Austrian television channel ORF has once again counted on the Spanish choreographer for this 2021. It is the first time in history that the same person performs the choreography two years in a row.
“If it was already a challenge choreographing last year’s concert, doing it a second time makes the challenge even greater. I cannot repeat what I did but, at the same time, it is something traditional and you have to respect a series of guidelines ”, declared José Carlos.
This year the soloists of the Vienna Opera Ballet will dance the Johann Strauss Waltz “Sohn Frühlingsstimmen Walzer op 410″, conducted, like the rest of the concert, by Maestro Riccardo Muti. The majestic gardens of the Liechtenstein Palace have been the location chosen for this piece.
Another novelty this year will be the delicate and elegant wardrobe designed by the prestigious Christian Lacroix, which further embellishes the choreographies.
The restrictions and protocols due to COVID-19 have made José Carlos work separately with each of the couples, creating 4 duos that represent the 4 seasons. Only at the end of the waltz did the eight dancers meet, and because it was an outdoor location.
“Dancing outside made the choreography evolve during filming, since dancing with pointe shoes in a dance studio is not the same as on grass or stones. Once again, I was impressed by the adaptability and attitude of the dancers at the Vienna Opera, willing to give their best throughout the recording. ”
The second choreographic piece is the “Marguerite polka-polka française op 244″ by Josef Strauss. This time, and to play with the beauty of Adolf Loos’s Looshaus, (a building built in 1909 that was initially a fashion factory, and today is a bank), José Carlos Martínez and Christian Lacroix have located the action in 1930, and through a group of young people having fun, the viewer discovers the intricacies of the building. A very theatrical choreography that takes us back to the silent film years.
The recording was made in the month of August and, for 10 days, the director, Henning Kasten, and José Carlos Martínez, worked hand in hand to adapt the choreographies created in the dance halls of the Vienna Opera, to these spaces so atypical and unprepared for classical dance.
For the Spanish choreographer, it has been a very pleasant experience, and a great pride, to have been chosen again to choreograph an event that brings together, through its international broadcast, millions of people from all over the world.