Archive for contemporary dance

Mythologies

Posted in Books, pictures, Running, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 22, 2025 by xi'an


Last week, we went to a dance performance, in Seine Musicale (a rehabilitation of the former grounds of the original Renault Car factory where my childhood neighbour worked in the 1920s!). Called Mythologies, and created in 2022, it was delivered by a mix of Angelin Preljocaj’s troup and the Bordeaux Opéra dancers, with the music composed by (ex-)Daft Punk, Thomas Bangalter! The show was impressive, in a physical sense since we were seated close to the stage and the speakers. The music was a rather neo-classic mix, with no punkness involved, a wee bit on the heavy side, and the dance traditional as well, while contemporary. The skill and stamina of the dancers amazed me. The different tableaux were related to Greek mythology—except for a Maya interlude that I missed—, albeit missing a story line, but rather (too?) efficient in delivering the corresponding myth. In particular, the tableaux on the labyrinth were brilliant. The epilogue is maybe the strongest moment of the show, with corpses spread all over the stage and death figures walking through. Possibly over explained but nonetheless tragically beautiful…

Solstice [Blanca Li dance company]

Posted in pictures with tags , , , , , on November 1, 2017 by xi'an

Yesterday night, we went to watch a [contemporary] dance show entitled Solstice in the nearby Les Gémeaux theatre. (With real tickets this time!) As I had no notion of what the show was about, it came as a massive shock, from the design of the scene, sitting under a white cloud that turns to fog or to waves, to the powerful soundtrack, oscillating between industrial music and Western Africa djembe and kora, including a scene with percussions made of hitting water, to impressive dancers, conveying vividly different stages of life and death and communion with or rejection from nature… The final scenes involving a dark sand that could substitute for water, pollution, or just the sand of a fighting arena, were particularly strong and moving. But so were those in a recreated tempest, with a stunning video background. Brilliant!

end of my dream! [aka no free lunch]

Posted in pictures with tags , , , , , , , on October 21, 2017 by xi'an

In June, last June, I received a collection of nominal tickets for the National Theatre next door, Les Gémeaux, which animates a rich and diverse scene, attracting to my suburb spectators from all over Paris. Scene that I do not attend as much as I would like, except for a few contemporary dance shows now and then… As I had not ordered these tickets, I was rather pleasantly surprised and wondered at the source of this princely gift, ruling out close family and anonymous sponsors! And the size of it was way too much for a commercial teaser. The most likely explanation was thus a mistake send to the wrong X. Nonetheless, being at home for the first concert, I went to check whether or not my allotted seats were occupied. And unsurprisingly they were. (I did not push the cheek as far as engaging into a discussion with my homonym!) Missing an Austrian theme with Mozart and Haydn. (But I have regular tickets for ext weekend!)

Bougival

Posted in Kids with tags , on February 2, 2010 by xi'an

On Saturday, I drove my daughter to a dance show where she was taking part and what started as a taxi chore  to a faraway suburb (very different from Monet‘s days!) ended up as a very pleasant evening. The show at the Théatre du Grenier was indeed a very good mix of professional companies and of younger dancers (with enough practice and skills to convey a clear picture despite some imperfections) and of diverse types of dances. While a hip-hop company gave a very impressive display of cohesion and graceful strength, the most powerful message was delivered by a company from Clermont-Ferrand called In Ninstan, though a minimalist but intense display by the three dancers.