Notes

According to program notes by Christian Harvey, supplied by the Netherlands Dance Theater:

“Jiří Kylián’s choreography is based absolutely and specifically on Janacek’s music which expresses ‘the contemporary free man, his spiritual beauty and joy, his strength, courage and determination to fight for victory.’  Working from so positive a concept, the ballet is a celebration of the sheer exhilaration of living, which follows the music in its joyous fusion of love, hope, youth and strength.  Janacek’s passionate score is complemented with dynamic authority and excitement, deeply felt folk dance elements, re-created through classical and contemporary techniques: a hallmark of most of Kylián’s work, it is a manifesto of sincerity and truth where words fail.”

Jiří Kylián has dedicated the choreography of Sinfonietta to his grandmother Stepanca Pestova.