Birgit Cullberg’s classical Adam and Eve (1961) counts as one of Cullberg Ballet’s all time audience favorites. The illustration of a dance lift featured in the piece became the Cullberg Ballet’s logo and was seen widely on posters and in programs.
Birgit Cullberg choreographed the creation myth of Adam and Even in her own idiosyncratic way, featuring a plethora of humorous elements and striking situations.
The ballet is a pas de deux about creation, love and expulsion from the garden of Eden. It begins with the moment when the first human being peers, blinking, toward the light. The male figure Adam finds himself no longer alone and after their first sensual encounter, the masculine-feminine conjunction is revealed, for better or for worse.
Adam and Eve was danced to Hilding Rosenberg’s Concerto per orchestra d’archi.
Adam and Eve was created for the American Ballet Theater in 1961. The original title was simply Eden.