William Forsythe . The Forsythe Company

The new version of 'Three Atmospheric Studies' is the most gripping and daring formal study of the current political scene in German dance theatre today. More than anyone else, the choreographer William Forsythe manages to show us penetrating images of war, using only the body as an instrument. We have known him since 1989 when he appeared for the first time in deSingel with Ballett Frankfurt. In 2005 he set up a new organisation: The Forsythe Company. The first product of this new company was entitled 'Three Atmospheric Studies' and was inspired by atmospheric changes. Now there is a new political and meditative version. With its references to the conflict in the Middle East, this triptych of dance comprises both abstract dance sections and spoken text. Part three belongs to the original atmospheric studies staged last year in Brussels. Parts I and II are entitled 'Clouds after Cranach' and are new. The title refers to a comparative iconographic study. The first image is a press photograph of four Iraqi men dragging a dead man from a house. The second image is a painting by the sixteenth-century German master, Lucas Cranach, entitled 'Klage unter dem Kreuz', and depicting a lamentation for Christ on the cross. The two images have precisely the same structure. The new version of 'Three Atmospheric Studies' was selected for the Theatertreffen 2006 in Berlin.