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Very good condition, especially considering age, other than some light age dusting on front of programme. (Please see images for condition). Not chipped at edges, no inscriptions. This is a really nice copy.Summary and Background
This programme was for a London guest season by Tanz-Forum Köln (the Cologne Opera’s contemporary dance company), then led by choreographer Jochen Ulrich. It was part of Sadler’s Wells’ late-1970s/early-1980s policy of diversifying beyond its resident ballet companies by presenting touring modern and contemporary dance.
What Tanz-Forum was
Tanz-Forum was founded in 1971 as the dance ensemble of the Cologne Opera, replacing a more conventional opera ballet with a collective-oriented modern company. Its founding directors included Helmut Baumann, Jürg Burth, Gray Veredon and Jochen Ulrich; Ulrich became its sole artistic director and chief choreographer from 1979, so he was a central figure of the 1981 London visit.
The company trained in both classical and modern—especially Graham-derived—technique, and commissioned work from several choreographers rather than functioning as the vehicle of one ballet-master. By the early 1980s it was regarded as one of Germany’s more innovative opera-company dance ensembles.
The Sadler’s Wells visit
A Times notice from February 1981 already advertised that “Tanz-Forum, Cologne” was “coming to” London, indicating that the April engagement was a planned, promoted guest season rather than an incidental booking. The visit fits the wider Sadler’s Wells context: by the 1970s the theatre’s dance programme had broadened considerably, with Rambert, London Contemporary Dance and a range of touring and commercial companies appearing alongside its ballet seasons.
