Leonce and Lena

WELCOME TO THE KINGDOMS OF POPO AND PIPI!

Christian Spuck’s fifth full-length ballet was inspired by the comic political satire Leonce and Lena (1838) by Georg Büchner, author of Woyzeck. It premiered at the Aalto Ballett Theatre in Essen, Germany, in April 2008. Prince Leonce of the Kingdom of Popo is languishing in never-ending boredom; Princess Lena, from the neighbouring Kingdom of Pipi, acutely feels the insularity and absurdity of the world around her. Before a romance can blossom between the unsuspecting royal pair, the two must escape from the farcical conventions of their respective microstates. Well aware that their marriage has been arranged since childhood, they each decide to flee their homeland. At a bustling inn just beyond their borders, they meet and fall in love incognito. Can the court, reduced to an absurd puppet show,” finally celebrate their union? It is the satiric elements, employed by Büchner to criticize the absolutist, end-of-reign society in which he lived, that are highlighted in this choreography. Among other pieces, Christian Spuck uses the ethereal—and at times grotesque—compositions by the Waltz King, Johann Strauss, to galvanize this tragicomic tale and underscore its parodic aspects.