Spoerli prefers to identify himself as "dance maker" rather than "choreographer," as he believes that that term better describes the variety of theatrical dance styles and forms in which he works. Whether small and intimate or large-scale and spectacular, his dance works do indeed demonstrate a wide range of choreographic styles, from classical, neoclassical, and contemporary ballet to modern and postmodern dance to provocative, avant-garde theater pieces. Throughout his career Spoerli often returned to classical ballets and traditional works whose dramatic or musical structure particularly interested him. His innovative production of
Giselle, oder der Wilis, first presented in Basel in 1976, was later mounted in Zurich (1980), in Duisburg (1993), and again in Zurich (1998). His versions of
The Firebird, ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Coppélia, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker,
and Les Noces
were all presented in more than one production, as was his Swan Lake
, which was presented in its third, final revision in Zurich in 2005. For his third version of A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1994), Spoerli supplemented the familiar music of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy with contemporary compositions by Philip Glass and Steve Reich, and for the fourth version, in 1996, he enhanced the confusion of identities and the senses at the heart of the plot by adding actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company as stagehands who interrupt the action, leaving audiences to wonder just what kind of innovative dance-theater piece they had witnessed. The production was revived in Zurich in 2010. Besides evening-length classical ballets, numerous contemporary ballets with a story line or evocative meaning, such as
Verklärte Nacht ("Radiant Night"), and lighthearted works such as
Chäs ("Cheese"), Spoerli produced a number of neoclassical, abstract works. Among them are
Goldberg Variations,
In den Winden im Nichts ("Winds in the Void"), and
Wäre heute morgen und gestern jetzt ("if today were tomorrow and yesterday now"), all set to music by Bach. Other neoclassical works include
allem nah, allem fern ("close to everything, far from everything"), set to Mahler's Fifth Symphony;
moZART (the title is a play on the composer's name and the German word for "tender"); and
In Spillville, set to Dvořák's string quartet no. 12, the "American Quartet." One of his most admired creations, made for the Rhine Opera Ballet, was inspired by the life and work of the Florentine Mannerist painter Pontormo (1494–1557). Entitled
. . . und Farben, die mitten in die Brust leuchten (". . . and colors that shine in the heart"), it was set to music by a wide spectrum of composers, from John Dowland (1563–1626) to Julia Wolfe (born 1958), and it included an equally wide spectrum of dance styles, ranging from Pontormo's time to the present. Among Spoerli's many works created expressly for television are
Träume ("Dreams"/"Reveries," 1979), set to music of Wagner, and
König David ("King David," 1981), set to music of Honegger. Both productions starred
Birgit Keil and Rudy Bryans. The 1996 and 1998 New Year's Concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra included dances made by Spoerli for members of the Vienna State Opera Ballet, including waltzes to Johann Strauss's famous
An der schönen blauen Donau ("On the Beautiful Blue Danube"). Both concerts were telecast worldwide to many millions of viewers. == Selected works ==