Public Private Partnership




The Forsythe Company gGmbH – an innovative partnership for the continuation of William Forsythe's work.

With his work at the Frankfurt Ballet over the last two decades, William Forsythe has created a new category within dance. Born in 1949 in New York City, Forsythe studied at Jacksonville University under Christa Long and at the Joffrey Ballet School, before joining the Stuttgart Ballet in 1973. In 1984, he was appointed artistic director of the Frankfurt Ballet. This company was regularly invited to perform in major cities around the world to great acclaim. At the end of 2003, The Forsythe Company gGmbH was founded to ensure the continuation of William Forsythe‰s ensemble.

The Forsythe Company gGmbH is a unique cross regional public-private partnership, the first of its kind in Germany. Five-year cooperation contracts were signed with the states of Saxony and Hesse and with the Cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main, guaranteeing roughly 75 percent of the financial budget for The Forsythe Company gGmbH for the seasons from 2005 through 2009. In 2009, this cooperation was extended for another four years through 2013. Ticket revenues and touring productions form an important success-related element in the companys financing. Private sponsors and project partners are relied on for further funds. The Forsythe Company gGmbH guarantees its sponsors transparency and powers of financial supervision in line with best practice corporate governance.

This first annual report of The Forsythe Company clearly documents the diversity and intensity of the artistic work being done by William Forsythe and his company. In this first year, The Forsythe Company was successfully introduced to the cultural scene of its new location in Dresden and challenging new productions were developed in Frankfurt am Main, Venice, New York and with the Schauspielhaus in Zurich. The artistic and financial success of this new, streamlined ensemble with its equally streamlined budget and administrative staff has proven that creativity and cost effectivity are, indeed, a dynamic partnership.

The Forsythe Company is exciting, rigorous, and uncompromising has achieved international recognition as a category of its own. The work of The Forsythe Company embodies the tensions and challenges of an increasingly globalized world with its countless local and regional cultures.
This is why The Forsythe Company communicates globally: not just in Dresden and Frankfurt am Main, but also in Berlin, London, Munich, New York, Paris, Tokyo among others.

With special thanks to Ms. Susanne Klatten for supporting The Forsythe Company.

DR. CLAUS LÖWE
Chairman, Society of Friends of The Forsythe Company

HANS HERMANN RESCHKE
Chairman, Supervisory Board, The Forsythe Company gGmbH

STATEMENTS

PROF. DR. GEORG MILBRADT A.D.
MINISTER PRESIDENT
OF THE STATE OF SAXONY

A warm welcome to The Forsythe Company in Hellerau! After a number of wellreceived performances in diverse venues throughout Dresden, the company finally settles into the city‘s Festspielhaus. This is a cause for joy and pride, since The Forsythe Company revives the long tradition of dance and modern art so intimately connected to Dresden. William Forsythe‘s unique performances draw a particularly enthusiastic response with young people. I am very much looking forward to the opening event and wish William Forsythe a continued run of inspiration and of course much success in Dresden.

ROLAND KOCH
MINISTER PRESIDENT
OF THE STATE OF HESSE

The Forsythe Company is one of the major cultural institutions in our state. By continuing to investigate all the expressive possibilities dance has to offer – again and again and ever anew – the company is taking this art form into new territory and providing its audience with a new artistic vantage point. Together with the state of Saxony, Hesse is supporting the company’s performances in the Bockenheimer Depot in Frankfurt am Main and in the Festspielhaus Hellerau in Dresden, which has now opened to serve as the company’s local residence. I’m confident that this venue will offer an amenable setting for the ensemble’s impressive work. I wish both the Forsythe Company and its guests all the best for the coming season.

DR. LUTZ VOGEL A.D.
MAYOR OF THE
CITY OF DRESDEN

Welcome to the Festspielhaus Hellerau Unique in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, this collaborative venture – two states and two cities joining forces to support one of the world’s most highly regarded choreographers and his ensemble – is finally taking to the stage. It therefore gives me great pleasure to welcome you, Mr. Forsythe, and your com-pany to the newly renovated Festspielhaus Hellerau the cradle of modern expressive dance – as it begins its first season in 2006 / 2007. In the name of the city of Dresden and the capital of the state of Saxony, I wish you the best of luck for a successful start and, at the same time, hope your artistic endeavors will revitalize this legendary performance space and once again bring it international renown. May you enjoy the thrill of succeeding together and discovering something new. Sincerely and from the heart: all the best!

PETRA ROTH
MAYOR OF THE CITY
OF FRANKFURT AM MAIN

The dance continues! The innovative partnership between the states of Saxony and Hesse, the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main and the Forsythe Company is set to bear fruit yet again in the coming season. Inquisitive and free-thinking audience members can look forward to another year of extraordinary choreography in the Bockenheimer Depot and the Festspielhaus Hellerau.

DR. CLAUS LÖWE
CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL
OF THE FRIENDS OF
THE FORSYTHE COMPANY E.V.

In its first year, The Forsythe Company proved to be an overwhelming success as a unique cross-regional public private partnership, the first of its kind in Germany. Creativity and cost-effectiveness have, indeed, formed a dynamic partnership. The work of the Forsythe Company embodies the tensions and challenges of an increasingly globalized world with its countless local and regional cultures. We are particularly excited that the Forsythe Company at the start of its second season will reopen the Festspielhaus Hellerau on September 8.

The Forsythe Company
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