Artists at Work

This year's Artists at Work series starts with an evening dedicated to Wendy Carlos, one of the most influential voices in electronic music. With her revolutionary soundtracks for the films Clockwork Orange and The Shining, she wrote music history. 

The film Sisters with Transistors tells the stories of groundbreaking female artists in electronic music. Before the screening, Will Gregory and Ruhrtriennale artistic director Ivo Van Hove will talk about Wendy Carlos’ influence on music history. Gregory, who interprets Carlos’ music with his ensemble in the Erased Music series, will also give insights into his work with electronic music. An evening dedicated to innovative sounds, pioneering female artists and the unbridled power of electronic music.

For Robyn Orlin, it is not just about dance, but about the powerful connection between ideas, lived experiences and movement. The documentary Robyn Orlin, de Johannesburg au Palais Garnier follows the choreographer in 2007 during her work at the Opéra Ganier, where she premiered the piece L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. The film provides deep insights into her working methods – from the initial planning to the dress rehearsal. It is both humorous and contemplative, showing how Orlin combines various contradictions in her work: improvisation and rules, discipline and fun, freedom and hierarchy. Rather than focusing on dance scenes, the film highlights the quiet, often poetic moments and conversations that bring the creative flow to life.

Anita van Dolen, dance curator of the Ruhrtriennale, opens the evening with a conversation with Robyn Orlin about her sources of inspiration and how she integrates work and life into her pieces. This year, the South African choreographer is a guest at the Ruhrtriennale with her piece ...how in salt desert is it possible to blossom....

A documentary about the creation of the dance piece SOUL CHAIN: a fascinating insight into the creative process of celebrated choreographer Sharon Eyal. It reveals how she develops her choreographies and how her dancers experience the precise yet free movements. Through sensitive camerawork, the piece is captured in such a way that viewers can feel as if they are part of the choreography themselves.

Prior to the screening, Sharon Eyal talks to Anita van Dolen, dance curator of the Ruhrtriennale about her artistic vision, the creative process and the tension between form and freedom, between the group and the individual. This year, Eyal's new piece Delay the Sadness celebrates its world premiere at the Ruhrtriennale.

This documentary takes us to the pulsating centre of the New York music scene in the late 1990s. Providing intimate insights into the world of influential composers such as David Lang, Philip Glass, Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe and Steve Reich, the film shows how their innovative music heralded a new era. Combining studio recordings with rehearsal and performance footage, the film captures these artists as they push the boundaries of harmony, structure and sound. Their music defies fixed conventions and is dedicated to the constant search for new sounds and musical experimentation.

Speaking before the screening, Ruhrtriennale programme director Krystian Lada and composer David Lang discuss Lang's artistic development, his philosophy as a composer, and how he views the changes in his scene from the 1990s to today. This year, David Lang is a guest at the Ruhrtriennale with his work before and after nature.