Eightwatchers is the title of a programme that the choreographer Eric Gauthier and his company, Gauthier Dance, presented at the Schauburg Theatre in Munich at the end of March. Seven of the eight pieces presented could all be characterised as short, entertaining and funny works with a strong storyline. It is a description that applies to the majority of the ballets he has created since he left Stuttgart Ballet in 2007 to embark on a career as a choreographer.

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A lonely dancer stands spot-lit on a stage. A voice-over explains that the link between rhythm and dance in classical ballet is the positions. At a breakneck tempo the voice then lists them. Not by their French names but by the numbers one to 100, whilst the dancer demonstrates them. After a short break the voice calls out the numbers again, but this time in random order and the dancer connects them together in a thrilling dance, which, however, renders him in pieces, torso, arms and legs apart.