For all ages ranging from six to ninety-nine, that’s how broad the audience for “Tanz 8½” can encompass. Ihsan Rustem staged the dance production “shazaam!” with ballet students at the “Dance Art Studio Ballettschule Luzern,” aiming to offer the audience a closer look at the children’s world – and the children a closer look at the world of dance. It is a world of secrets, codes and fantasy, in which humour and seriousness are closely knit. The dancers perform to music from Bizet’s “Carmen,” Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” accompanied by a string ensemble from the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.

Thereafter, the programme features an intermezzo without dance, a musical fairytale narrated to “Suite im Alten Stil” by Edvard Grieg.

Then another choreography by Ihsan Rustem: the world premiere of “Terra Ferma” performed by the Lucerne Dance Theatre and accompanied by the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. The young British choreographer and dancer’s sleek signature, rich in contrast, is indisputable here. Already in 1999 he emerged with his own works, for which he has gained international recognition. In 2010 Ihsan Rustem was invited to stage “State of Matter” for the Northwest Dance Project in Portland, Oregon (USA). Ihsan Rustem has been a member of the Lucerne Dance Theatre since the first season in 2009/10.