De Maan in de Trapeze

Photo: Ger van Leeuwen
On this photo: Jaap Flier, Alexandra Radius

Choreographer: Hans van Manen

Man can never live up to his highest ambitions, his most tender desires. If fate hands him all opportunities, he does not know how to seize them. He feels powerless and inadequate in the face of happiness. Based on the music of Benjamin Britten’s ‘Divisions for Left Hand’, and by the shape of a pas de deux, Hans van Manen transposed this theme to the theatre.

'De Maan in de Trapeze' is a poetic fantasy in a circus. A man, described as "the Clown", dreams of reaching the unattainable.

Together with 'Giovinezza' (Rudi van Dantzig), 'Feestgericht' (Hans van Manen), and 'Four Times Six' (Benjamin Harkarvy), this ballet was shown during the first ever performance by NDT that took place in Oostende in 1959.