Duo (2023 extended)

Duo (2023, extended) is a structural elaboration on the eponymous work, originally premiered in 1996 with Ballet Frankfurt, at the Frankfurt Opera in Germany.
Originally designed for two women, the work has undergone several iterations, each one emphasizing a different facet of the work’s structure. The version referenced for Duo (2023, extended) was designed for two men, Riley Watts and Brigel Gjoka, specifically for William Forsythe’s full-length work A Quiet Evening of Dance in 2019.
Duo centres around the idea of counterpoint being an organic state of nature, something fundamental to being in the world. The work is conducted by a breath score that not only synchronizes the performers, but also allows them to communicate without visual cues, when necessary. This was the very first of a series of a cappella works produced by Forsythe over the next twenty-five years.