“The Ballet About Bellman is not a collection of pantomimic anecdotes deploying Bellman’s famous characters in the lead roles. Instead, it is an attempt to portray in dance how Bellman’s poetry could become contemporary music in its own right. Both were violent, powerful and surprising. Bellman’s lyricism has parallels to Beethoven’s romanticism and grace. The character Bellman in the ballet is not a portrait of the poet as a private person or singer. Dance and choreography are a completely different artistic language than literature.”
– Page 253-254, from Birgit Cullberg by Erik Näslund (Norstedts Förlag 1978)