The title only represents the exact duration of the piece. 
It is related to the time the dancers take to perform it. 
But the dancers performance starts many hours before the 
curtain goes up..! Dancers invest much time, experience 
and concentration to prepare for the moment in which they 
face the audience..! But in fact they throw themselves in 
front of the audience and solely represent what they are 
worth at that point of their life.

27'52" is a work concerned with at least four elements: 
"Time", "Speed", "Love" and "Constant changes". We might 
not be aware, but we don't only become older on our birthday, 
but every split of a second of our life is responsible for our 
aging, and every moment of our life represents some kind 
of change..! To me this is a very reassuring and liberating 
thought. We don't have to remain the same from our birth to 
our death..! We have the ability to change. I know that this 
is an essential part of the teaching of many eastern religions, 
but it is still very exciting when we actually realize it. 

In 27’52" there are some more realistic elements worth 
mentioning. The set has actually two major parts: The floor 
underneath the dancers' feet and the ceiling above. In the 
course of the performance we notice that both of these 
elements are unstable and unreliable. Everything is constantly 
moving: our age, our interest, our partnership, our future and 
our destiny. 

This means that the only thing we can rely on is uncertainty... 
And although I am an incurable optimist, I must admit that this 
fact is the most fateful and faithful companion of our life.
Of course this piece is about existence, love and death..! 
But it is also about many things in between and it is ultimately 
up to the interpreter to find all the colors of the rainbow 
between the floor underneath our feet and the ceiling above 
our heads.
        
                    Jiří Kylián - The Hague, June 2019