Strike Two, a new creation by choreographer Philippe Kratz presented as a preview by Fabbrica Europa, stems from an encounter with Dmitrij Šostakovič’s Piano Trio No. 2, composed in 1944 following the death of his closest friend, the musicologist Ivan Sollertinsky. In the tradition of the Trio élégiaque, the work moves between personal mourning and collective memory, between war and remembrance. In its final movement, a theme inspired by Jewish folk music takes shape as a danse macabre, gradually dissolving into fragments of the musical material. Years later, Shostakovich would return to this motif in his String Quartet No. 8, dedicated to the victims of fascism and war.

Strike Two takes its cue from this tension, which the work does not seek to illustrate but to inhabit.

On stage, two bodies share a space without their relationship ever being clearly defined: siblings, adversaries, lovers, strangers — or perhaps the same person continuing to encounter themselves outside of themselves.

Each of their gestures simultaneously contains the possibility of support and erasure, listening and resistance.
Nothing is resolved. Every balance is constantly called into question.

In baseball, “strike two” refers to the second strike, the second failed attempt.

It is not yet the end, but it is the moment when its approach becomes tangible. A suspended state in which time contracts and every action takes on a different weight.
There is not yet a conclusion, but it is no longer possible to return to the beginning.

As part of the Fabbrica Europa Festival 2026
In collaboration with Fondazione Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with the participation of Fondazione Scuola di Musica di Fiesole

Tickets will go on sale soon.