Do you love Gershwin?

»Do You Love Gershwin?« is a tribute to the famous North American composer and pianist (1898-1937), who switched between the genres of serious and popular music like hardly anyone else: An evening in which popular musical songs are performed alongside of hits such as »Summertime«, »I Got Rhythm« or »The Man I love«, as well as parts from orchestral works, such as the first movement of Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F major.

Famous jazz performers such as Sarah Vaughan or Ella Fitzgerald have dedicated entire records to Gershwin's songs and have reinterpreted his compositions time and again. »I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them«, said Gershwin's brother and lyricist Ira Gershwin many years after the composer's death. This musically and music-historically significant history of reception allows Goecke to make a personal selection of his favourite interpreters of Gershwin's music.
Gershwin's musical and film music also have a strong visual dimension. They evoke dances such as the Charleston, Cakewalk as a danced version of ragtime, swing or tap dance. Dancers such as Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers or Gene Kelly, who translated Gershwin's music into movement for film classics, are legendary.
Marco Goecke's dance language stands in the greatest possible contrast to these well-familiar dances. It is actually the first time that Goecke has devoted himself to the music of a composer who »wrote music for the feet« as Fred Astaire once said about Gershwin. Since the choreographer is known for setting the arms and upper body of his dancers in vibration, we can look forward to an extremely exciting and original encounter. Both artists are united by a never-denied desire to live through art, despite difficult circumstances. The fact that the piece is based primarily on solos and combinations of two, came out of the challenging and special production circumstances in the early summer of 2020.