Recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the contemporary period, William Forsythe has radically influenced the kinds of thinking being done in the field of dance through his understanding of the malleability and possibility inherent in the language of classical dance. His work with the Ballett Frankfurt (1984–2004) is acknowledged for its re-viewing of classical ballet as a set of ideas about relationships that in and of themselves have unlimited potential for proliferation of form, flow and dynamic. Since 2005, The Forsythe Company has continued to extend this relational and connective mode of thinking which has carved out so much creative autonomy for the individual dancer.

In October 2010, William Forsythe brought his large-scale work The Defenders to the Jahrhunderthalle. This season, The Forsythe Company returns to Bochum with Now This When Not That, a co-production for the Ruhr Triennale which takes as its subject the radical multiplicity of choice available to the mover. In this world-premiere work, which features a complex set environment by Forsythe and music by longtime collaborator Thom Willems, Forsythe explores the dynamics through which the subjective crisis of the manifold informs and forms both choreography and perceptual experience.