Douglas Becker
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Douglas Becker is a choreographer and teacher working in many idioms, including contemporary ballet and improvisation throughout Europe and the United States. A founding member and principal dancer of the Frankfurt Ballet, where he performed with distinction for over 10 years under the direction of acclaimed choreographer William Forsythe, he played a pivotal role in the creation of many signature pieces and is one of the few individuals around the world with the authority to remount Forsythe repertoire. During the past decade of making his own creations, Mr. Becker's choreography has been hailed as "innovative and energetic, very graphic and with purity of movement" (Swiss newspaper "24 Heures") and praised for its "delicate, intricate partnering and fleet movements" (The New York Times). Mr. Becker's collaborative process of choreographic development improvises upon and utilizes dancers' individual talents and characteristics. A native of Dallas, Texas, he makes his home in Brussels, Belgium.
Spanning over a decade of choreographic investigation recent commissions include Extreme Memory created for the National Ballet Academy in Amsterdam in 2005. To Each His Own, was for Switzerland's Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2004 which included repeat invitations to work with CCN Ballet de Lorraine and Conservatoire Nationale Supérieur de Danse, both in France. His improvisation workshop and installation piece, The Third Eye, created for the Musée de Grenoble, was restaged for CCN Ballet de Lorraine in 2003. As a Flemish Government Arts Commission grant recipient, Mr. Becker directed and performed in a stage work, Brutal Elves in the Woods, for Brussels' multidisciplinary arts organization Nadine. Due to popular acclaim, in 2002 it was expanded and a second part added. Since 2000, Mr. Becker has been a Guest Lecturer at University of California Irvine in choreography, Forsythe repertoire, improvisation and ballet technique.
Ballet training for Mr. Becker began in Texas under Nathalia Krassovska and Stanley Hall, and continued in New York City with David Howard, Marjorie Mussman and Maggie Black. In 1978, he joined the Joffrey Ballet and worked with choreographic masters including Agnes de Mille, Choo San Goh and Jerome Robbins. Two years later, he was asked to become part of the National Ballet of Canada under the direction of Alexander Grant. He toured extensively with the company, performing with guest artists such as Rudolf Nureyev and Erik Bruhn. After a short period dancing at the Dallas Ballet with director Fleming Flindt, Mr. Becker was invited by choreographer William Forsythe to join the Frankfurt Ballet, where he also worked with Amanda Miller, Stephen Petronio, Susan Marshall and Jan Fabre. Mr. Becker began staging Forsythe ballets in 1992 with In the Middle Somewhat Elevated for Ballet British Columbia and continuing with Steptext and Artifact II for Ballet West, New York University, University of California Irvine, and others.
[edit] Forsythe reconstruction
During his career as a performer/Principal Dancer in the Frankfurt Ballet, he either danced, acted, improvised, spoke, or sang in the following works created by William Forsythe: LDC, Artifact (I, II, III, IV), France/Dance, Steptext, Behind The China Dogs, Big White Baby Dog, Die Befragung des Robert Scott, Enemy in the Figure, Herman Schmerman, Impressing the Czar, In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, Isabelle's Dance, Limbs Theorem, Love Songs, New Sleep, Same Old Story, Say Bye Bye, Skinny, Slingerland, Steptext, The Loss of Small Detail, The Second Detail, The Vile Parody of Address.
Of these works, to date, he has reconstructed Steptext, Artifact II, New Sleep (pas de deux), The Vile Parody of Address, and Die Befragung des Robert Scott.
