The Köln Concert Trajal Harrell / Zürich Dance Ensemble
Freesheet
About The Köln Concert
A dance piece to the most famous solo piano recording of all time – Keith Jarrett‘s Köln Concert. Before The Köln Concert is played, we first hear four songs by another artist: the Canadian musician Joni Mitchell. She opens the evening, setting the stage for the music of Keith Jarrett and for the seven dancers of the dance ensemble.
Trajal Harrell’s Köln Concert seeks a way for people to meet despite different languages, different world views, different identities. The shared experience of people, of tender and strong people disclosing their vulnerability, dancing, functions as a reminder of the need to stay close, to have respect, and never to forget that there are many stories of people who are hardly ever heard or seen; people pushed into the shadows, the lonely, the addicted, the abandoned, the homeless, the sad, who defy their abandonment proudly and in beauty. It is to them that this evening belongs.
About Trajal Harrell
For over 20 years, dancer and choreographer Trajal Harrell has been creating ground-breaking works for international dance and theatre companies, as well as for renowned museums and art institutions. Today, he is recognized as one of the most influential figures in contemporary dance, maintaining long-standing partnerships with leading artistic institutions worldwide alongside his ensemble.
From 2019 to July 2024, Trajal Harrell successfully led his dance company at Schauspielhaus Zürich. In 2023, he was invited to create a work for the prestigious Cour d’Honneur at the 77th edition of the Festival d’Avignon. Later that year, the Festival d’Automne in Paris honoured him with a dedicated portrait, presenting nine of his works across the city.
Following his successful tenure at Schauspielhaus Zürich, Trajal Harrell chose to remain in Zurich, where he founded the Zürich Dance Ensemble, establishing both its administrative and artistic headquarters in the city. For the first time in his international career, he and his company have permanently anchored themselves to a single location. The Zürich Dance Ensemble regularly tours both nationally and internationally.
Trajal Harrell’s work continues to receive widespread acclaim. The New York Times named The Köln Concert one of the Best Dance Performances of 2023. In 2024, he was honoured with the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale of Dance.
I want my dances to be felt- movement that brings emotion and feeling and opens up a porous exchange between dancer and audience, honouring the invisible cellular energetic connective tissue the joins us, all of us pouring out reaching for that thing beyond our grasp, sharing the same air, dreaming into new realities together. I’m interested in the friction between rawness and refinement, high art and popular culture, past and future, order and chaos, homage and intent.
Artistic Team & Credits
The Köln Concert
By Trajal Harrell / Zürich Dance Ensemble
To the music of Keith Jarrett and Joni Mitchell
Used by arrangement with ECM Records
Staging, Choreography, Set, Soundtrack & Costumes Trajal Harrell
With New Kyd, Maria Ferreira Silva, Trajal Harrell, Rob Fordeyn, Thibault Lac, Songhay Toldon, Ondrej Vidlar
Music Keith Jarrett, Joni Mitchell
Lighting Sylvain Rausa
Dramaturgy Katinka Deecke
Technical Touring Team Petra Kenneth, Susanne Affolter
Diffusion Art Happens
Touring Management Cynthia Naef
Management, International Relations Björn Pätz
Production Schauspielhaus Zürich
Support Pro Helvetia
