DRESDEN (DE) With the premiere of Wings and Feathers on November 8th 2025 the Director of Semperoper Ballett Kinsun Chan is introducing a new two-part ballet evening to the Semperoper featuring highly contrasting choreographies: Colossus by the Canadian choreographer Stephanie Lake joining the Semperoper Ballett as the company’s Artist in Residence, and Vertical Road by Akram Khan. Both the artists are here making their Semperoper debuts. 
Colossus by Stephanie Lake
Since its world premiere in 2018, Colossus has captivated audiences around the globe with its visual power and choreographic complexity. Stephanie Lake is now bringing this extraordinary dance project to the Semperoper stage, offering both the Semperoper Ballett and the Palucca University of Dance Dresden the opportunity to celebrate their 200th and 100th anniversaries respectively. Dancers from both institutions are joining forces in this highly kinetic interplay of precision and chaos, individual movement and collective energy.
This season, Stephanie Lake, bringing her innovative style to the Saxon capital.
Vertical Road by Akram Khan 
Following Lake’s choreography, Akram Khan’s Vertical Road is a work that takes an entirely different approach in its exploration of the spiritual dimension of human existence. Since its world premiere in 2010, Vertical Road has presented international audiences with a lyrical, physical and intellectual experience that poses questions without offering easy answers.
Born in London in 1974 into a family with its roots in Bangladesh, Khan’s artistic practice fuses Western dance forms with the classical Indian dance tradition of Kathak. This distinctive synthesis has shaped his unmistakable choreographic style, marked by rhythmic precision, narrative depth and physical intensity. 

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