Christopher Wheeldon, Pennsylvania Ballet DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse ( Michael Nyman score)

Created in 2006 for The Royal Ballet, Christopher Wheeldon s DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse is set to Michael Nyman s score, MGV (Musique à Grande Vitesse). The score was composed to commemorate the 1993 inauguration of the north European line of the French train à grande vitesse, more commonly known as the TGV. A tour de force for 26 dancers, with four couples at its core and featuring costumes and scenery by JeanMarc Puissant and lighting by Jennifer Tipton, the work propels the dancers through shifting physical and emotional landscapes, paralleling Nyman s division of the score into five While a travel motif is never literal, a sensation of momentum and surging progression infuses the ballet.