Dido & Aeneas

Henry Purcell’s most famous opera tells the story of Dido, the Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan prince Aeneas, whose love is tragically thwarted by the looming hostility between their two kingdoms. As the first among contemporary interpreters of this opera, Sasha Waltz developed a choreographic work from its rich emotional landscape, involving the singers in choreographic processes and thereby merging dance and opera into a single art form. To illustrate the inner conflict of the two lovers, Sasha Waltz casts Dido with two dancers who simultaneously express different emotional states. She created this first of her choreographic operas in 2005 together with 12 dancers from her ensemble, as well as 51 musicians, choristers, and vocal soloists. DIDO & AENEAS, a work exploring the myth of flight, exile, and love in times of war, has been celebrated in countless guest performances worldwide since its premiere in 2005, and we are delighted to have brought this production to Cologne.

Sasha Waltz studied dance and choreography in Amsterdam and New York. Together with Jochen Sandig, she founded “Sasha Waltz & Guests” in 1993 and the Berlin venue “Sophiensæle” in 1996. From 2000 to 2004, she was part of the artistic leadership of the Schaubühne Berlin, where, among other works, her KÖRPER trilogy was created. In 2004, the choreographer became independent again and has since produced numerous choreographic works. Sasha Waltz has received multiple awards for her work, including the Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2011 and the title “Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” in 2021. Since June 2013, she has been a member of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin. In 2024, Sasha Waltz was awarded the German Dance Prize. The company has been a regular guest in Cologne since 2011 and is well known to Cologne’s dance audiences through works such as KÖRPER, SACRE, KREATUR, IN C, and most recently BEETHOVEN 7.