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5 dancers in a row in different poses with 1 dancer off to the side. They are on a dark stage. All are wearing all black costumes.

Repertory

Enemy in the Figure

COMPANIES

CHOREOGRAPHER

AILEY II PREMIERE

2022

WORLD PREMIERE

1989

STAGED WITH

Thomas McManus

STAGE, ORIGINAL LIGHTING, AND COSTUME DESIGN

William Forsythe

MUSIC

Thom Willems

LIGHTING RECREATED BY

Ethan Saiewitz

LIGHTING CONSULTANT

Francesca Harper

RUN TIME

18 Minutes

Enemy in the Figure is the intensely propulsive central section of William Forsythe’s eponymous work. Originally created in Germany in 1989 for his ensemble, Ballett Frankfurt, the full work has been performed in major venues across the globe. Thom Willem’s percussive and rhythmically driving electronic score was the source of the work's choreographic invention and influenced the radical use of light and shadow in the original stage design. This excerpt puts the formidable dance skills of the Ailey II dancers on fine display, giving their craft and vitality an invigorating framework.

A dancer on stage in all black poses with one arm forward and one arm bent behind her

Ailey II's Brena Thomas in William Forsythe's Enemy in the Figure Photo by Erin Baiano

A dancer in arabesque on stage in all black

Ailey II's Maggy van den Heuvel in William Forsythe's Enemy in the Figure Photo by Christopher Duggan

5 dancers in a row in different poses with 1 dancer off to the side. They are on a dark stage. All are wearing all black costumes.

Ailey II in William Forsythe's Enemy in the Figure Photo by Erin Baiano

Funders

The creation of Enemy in the Figure was supported by Robert Press.