A review in the Financial Time of a mixed rep show by the Vienna Opera Ballet included mention of a "Slingerland pas de deux by William Forsythe. It is apparently an excerpt from a larger ballet -- could someone here tell me what ballet it is taken from, and is the Slingerland of the title a reference to the Slingerland who worked with dyslexic children?


the review -- http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?p...p=1016625900929

Slingerland is a manufacturer of percussion instruments and guitars. And there is also a Dutch bicycle manufacturer of that name.

And the ballet from which the pas de deux is excerpted is titled...wait for it..."Slingerland"! It has music by Gavin Bryars and Thom Willems.

Many thanks for the information. In another forum I read a negative review of a Forsythe work that claimed he seemed to be parodying people with learning disabilities -- the reviewer seemed offended by his style in general but I thought perhaps there was some connection.

Forsythe isn't everybody's cup of tea, and he also has a sometimes dada-like tendency toward titling his works. He could just as easily have chosen "Slingerland" because he liked the sound of it! :shrug:

Very true! I've liked the work I've seen, though, and am sorry that the municipal government in Frankfurt has sqeezed him out.