Dance Agenda – October 2021<

October, rainy month? Perfect, the ideal weather to take refuge in the theaters. Especially since choreographic news is in full swing with, in particular, the return of regional companies, often deprived of the stage for a year, and creations that have been waiting for months to finally be able to meet the public. Here is our selection of around twenty dance and circus shows not to be missed this month, all over France.

Current Circus Festival Circa

From October 21 to 30 at Pôle Circa - Auch (32) - Festival - Circus

Year after year, we can't stop being seduced by the current Circus Festival Circa. By the quality of its programming, its artistic surprises, its beautiful discoveries, its young talents too, just like the festive and popular atmosphere which reigns under the capitals. For this 34th edition, make way for the amazing Chloé Moglia, the MPTA company, the Cirque du bout du monde or the acrobats of Gravity & Other Myths, not forgetting the great circus schools. 10 days to dive into the heart of the new circus, more alive than ever after these 18 months of crisis.

Current Circus Festival Circa

The Wings of Desire by Bruno Bouché by the Ballet du Rhin

From October 30 to November 15 at the Opéra de Strasbourg and at La Filature - Strasbourg (67) and Mulhouse (68) - Creation - Contemporary dance

Bruno Bouché offers a great creation for this season, taking the title of the 1987 film by Wim Wenders from which it is inspired. "Les Ailes du Désir by Bruno Bouché is an invitation to explore through music and danced gesture this absolute mystery of incarnation. Better than words, dance and music are undoubtedly the best catalysts for this quivering of life in us, from this inexhaustible effervescence of the senses, smell, taste, the pleasure of touch... everything that makes life joyful, and that we too often take for granted!". A reflection on the senses carried by a musical patchwork mixing pieces from the repertoire and a creation by the young composer Jamie Man.

Take a closer look at Maguy Marin

From October 21 to 29 at the Théâtre des Abbesses - Paris (75) - Creation 2021 - Performance - Contemporary dance

Due to its weight in the French choreographic landscape for 40 years, Maguy Marin always creates the event with each of its creations. Even if we find that his gaze is now a little out of step with our time. For this new piece, created in Avignon this summer, the choreographer immersed herself in The Peloponnesian War by the Athenian philosopher Thucydides. On stage, two men and two women find themselves in the middle of costumes that they put on, objects that they manipulate, screens that lead them. They try their hand at the games of life, domination and the grip that overwhelms us when faced with those weaker than ourselves, to understand the mechanisms at the heart of wars and which produce violence.

Four trends by the Bordeaux Opera Ballet

From October 27 to November 7 at the Grand-Théâtre - Bordeaux (33) - Entry into the repertoire - Contemporary dance - Neo-classical dance

Already the eighth edition for the program Four trends of the Ballet de l'Opéra de Bordeaux, which allows you to discover contemporary or neo-classical works from multiple horizons. For this 2021 edition, make way for four sure values. The company thus takes over Petite mort by Jiří Kylián, which suits it so well, as well as the very funny and effective Cacti by Alexander Ekman. Then place two entries in the repertoire, and not the least: Step Lightly by the ingenious and theatrical duo Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, then the virtuoso Herman Schmerman by William Forsythe. A rich program which gives to dance a company which will find its scene after long months of absence.

Bordeaux Ballet - Little Death by Jirí Kylián

Cherkaoui/Maillot program by the Ballets de Monte-Carlo

From October 29 to 31 at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo - Monaco (98) - Creation - Contemporary dance

The Ballets de Monte-Carlo are back home with a mixed program with contemporary accents. First, In Memoriam by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, created for the company in 2004. Marrying the Corsican songs of A Filetta, the performers tell how caresses and blows remain etched in our bodies. Then Back on Track 61 by Jean-Christophe Maillot, a creation also about the passage of time, but still with the thirst for creation of the choreographer who has just celebrated his 61st birthday. Note that the company is also resuming its superb Romeo and Juliet, with new performers in the main roles, from October 21 to 23.

Double Murder by Hofesh Shechter

October 22 and 23 at Carré Sainte Maxime, Sainte Maxime (83) - October 26 and 27 at Libertè, Toulon (83) - Contemporary dance

A hard-hitting dance, virtuoso performers with crazy energy, rocking pieces, a stimulating electro soundtrack: the shows of the Hofesh Shechter company rarely leave you indifferent. This Double Murder program includes two pieces. Clowns first, created in 2016 for the Nederlands Dans theater, offers a tribal dance all in chiaroscuro. The Fix, the choreographer's new piece, takes us into a sensitive and benevolent world that protects us from the attacks to which we are daily subjected. To dive or re-immerse yourself in the contemporary dance of Hofesh Shechter.

Read the show review

The Red and the Black by Pierre Lacotte by the Paris Opera Ballet

From October 16 to November 4, young preview on October 15, at the Palais Garnier - Paris (75) - Creation - Classical dance

It's been more than ten years since the Paris Opera Ballet staged a new great classical narrative ballet! Le Rouge et le Noir by Pierre Lacotte is therefore an event. The resources were put into this show: 400 costumes, 35 painted canvases for the decor and more than 250 people on stage each evening, including 104 male and female dancers and ten students from the School of Dance. The distributions are equally brilliant with no less than 12 Stars across the various distributions. Beyond the figures of large productions, The Red and the Black promises to be ambitious: the rereading of a masterpiece of literature and a choreography signed by a lover of the French school. Especially since Pierre Lacotte is more used to reconstructions or re-readings, like his beautiful Paquita. Many ingredients that make this creation one of the most anticipated of the season.

See all distros

Red and Black by Pierre Lacotte - Costumes

Omma by Josef Nadj

From October 20 to 31 at the MC93 - Bobigny (93) - Creation 2021 - Contemporary dance

The choreographer and visual artist Josef Nadj surrounded himself with eight dancers from the African continent for his creation Omma, postponed several times by the pandemic. The interpreters come from Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo. So many influences, personal stories or ways of dancing that mingle and intersect on stage. Together they make up one body – black or fekete, as they call it… in Hungarian. A plural body in which everyone affirms their own language, identity, dance.

circus machine

From October 14 to January 1 at the La Scala theater - Paris (75) - Circus

Founded in 2013 by Vincent Dubé, Machine de cirque brings together five circus artists from Quebec, the other circus country. The show arises in a post-apocalyptic universe where only these five characters would have survived. A grim moment? Not at all ! Hilarious and virtuoso on the contrary, carried by the drums and instruments of Frédéric Lebrasseur, a disheveled musician who accompanies the adventures of his comrades with his music.

Circus machine

Cabaret of the Exile of Bartabas by the Equestrian Theater Zingaro

From October 19 to December 31 at Fort d'Aubervilliers - Aubervilliers (93) - Creation - Equestrian theater

37 years ago, Bartabas set up his very first "Equestrian Cabaret". For this new creation, the rider returns to this convivial form where horses, music and songs mingle, this time to celebrate the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, between Yiddish culture and klezmer music. A moment to immerse yourself in the memories of a country left behind but never forgotten.

Past events

Amala Dianor Program

October 21 and 22 at the Maison de la Danse - Lyon (69) - Creation - Hip hop - Contemporary dance

The choreographer and dancer Amala Dianor takes possession of the Maison de la Danse with two programs. First an evening mixing the revival of his piece Extension, as well as his creation Point Zéro, a trio with his dancer friends Johanna Faye and Mathias Rassin. The three performers experience the paths taken and the aesthetics of each to see what the founding values ​​of hip hop have become, to see if it is still possible to draw from them in order to create, transmit and dance together. The choreographer also offers his new solo Wo-Man. Then a student at the CNSMDL, the dancer Nangaline Gomis asked the choreographer to perform excerpts from her solo Man Rec, as part of her studies. Amala Dianor finally recreated this solo for this young performer, adapting it and turning it into Wo-Man.

Anniversary gala of the Compagnie François Mauduit

October 19 at the Théâtre de Caen - Caen (14) - Gala - Classical dance - Neo-classical dance

For 15 years, the Compagnie François Mauduit has traveled across France to show the public a varied repertoire, mainly marked by a repertoire and classical and neo-classical creations. Initially made up of amateurs, the company has become more professional since 2006 by settling in Caen, with performers who have passed through the great international ballets. Since then, while leading his troupe, François Mauduit founded the Nijinsky Competition, which has made its mark in dance competitions, and set up a Junior company. Always with the ambition of showing the public all the liveliness and modernity of classical dance. It took an anniversary gala to blow out 15 candles. On the program: the highlights of François Mauduit and a few surprises.

Black Dances Matter by Ballet Nice Méditerranée

From October 15 to 21 at the Nice Côte d'Azur Opera - Nice (06) - Classical dance - Neo-classical dance

In France, while dancers have embraced the Black Lives Matter movement, few companies have followed the movement for their programming. The Ballet Nice Méditerranée, however, makes an exception with its Black Dances Matter program, wanting to "pay tribute to black artists who have marked the history of dance". Well, it's sometimes a bit far-fetched, starting with its opening piece - excerpts from Chaka - by... Maurice Béjart. Created in 1989 for the Bicentenary of the Revolution, it invokes African dances. The director of the Ballet Nice Méditerranée Éric Vu-An was the performer. The latter also presents his reinterpretation of the Ballet de Faust. There is also - and above all - the superb Night Creature by African-American choreographer Alvin Ailey, as well as Verse Us by Dwight Rhoden, who was one of his dancers.

Dancing Schubert in the 21st century by the Ballet du Rhin

From October 12 to 22 at La Sinne in Mulhouse and at the Théâtre municipal de Colmar - Mulhouse and Colmar (68) - Creation - Contemporary dance - Neo-classical dance

The Ballet du Rhin is taking up the formula that has borne fruit in recent seasons: a program combining creations inspired by the same composer, and linked by a unique scenography. For 2021, place for the music of Schubert and no less than fifteen pieces proposed by the dancers and dancer choreographers of the company - i.e. 7 women and 8 men choreographers, a joint program to highlight. Everything is led by the scenography of Silvère Jarrosson, a young painter... who started with dance. A graduate of the Paris Opera School of Dance, the artist finally turned to pictorial art and defines himself as a "painter in motion". You couldn't find a more exciting artist to work on a choreographic show.

Toulouse-Lautrec by Kader Belarbi by the Ballet du Capitole

From October 16 to 23 at the Théâtre du Capitole - Toulouse (31) - Creation - Neo-classical dance

Already shifted twice, the third will be the right one for this highly anticipated creation! After having mainly worked on the rereading of classical ballets for the Ballet du Capitole, Kader Belarbi is once again embarking on a great and new narrative ballet. The painter Toulouse-Lautrec is the center, with a body prevented by illness, with around him the emblematic characters of the time. And for spectators who wish, a virtual reality experience will be offered, to experience the show at times in the heart of the artists. A rich fresco of emblematic characters, where the French cancan mixes with classical dance.

Read the show review

Read Kader Belarbi's interview

¡Fandango! by David Coria and David Lagos

From October 5 to 8 at the Maison de la Danse - Lyon (69) - Flamenco

Accompanied by guitarist David Lagos, David Coria offers with ¡Fandango! a journey through Spanish history and tradition, through flamenco dance and music. For an hour and a half, he shares the stage with three dancers and a dancer to the music of the album Hodierno by David Lagos, in a show mastered from start to finish and whose perfectly structured story lets emerge a dancer with impeccable technique. and endowed with an intoxicating virtuosity. ¡Fandango!, an exciting show, performed with brio, talent and generosity.

Read the chronicle of the show seen at the Flamenco Art Biennial in 2020

Phoenix by Josette Baïz by the Grenade company

October 8 and 9 at the Grand Théâtre de Provence - Aix-en-Provence (13) - Creation - Contemporary dance

30 years is something to celebrate. And for the Grenade company, this involves a new creation by Josette Baïz: Phoenix. To stage this piece, the choreographer let the 12 performers express their creativity on the theme of this bird rising from its ashes. And to also make them wonder about the pandemic that the world of dance has gone through: how did these performers experience this strange period? How have these last 18 months changed them? What remains of their dreams? The result gives a piece that is anything but nostalgic, on the contrary turned towards the future and the jubilant energy of the dancers.

Musica Maestro of the Italians of the Paris Opera

October 10 at the Grande Scène du Chesnay - Le Chesnay (78) - Gala - Classical dance - Neo-classical dance

We now know well the troupe of Italians from the Paris Opera, led by Alessio Carbone, bringing together personalities from the Paris Opera for galas of very good performance. This edition is a bit special, with international guests (and not the least): the Star of Vienna Davide Duato, the soloist of La Scala Emanuela Montanari and the soloists of the Naples Ballet Claudia D'Antonio and Stanislao Capissi. On the side of the Paris Opera, place for the young and talented Francesco Mura, Bianca Scudamore, Antonio Conforti and Ambre Chiarcosso. All for a program with a neo-classical tone, between excerpts from works by Jerome Robbins, Anna Pavlova, Angelin Preljocaj or Simone Valastro.

Emanuel Gat's Lovetrain2020 by Emanuel Gat Dance Company

October 12 and 13 at the Maison de la Danse - Lyon (69) - Contemporary dance

After Johann Sebastian Bach, Emanuel Gat changes musical register and draws inspiration for his piece Lovetrain2020 from the 80' pop rock universe of Tears for Fears, taking the bias of a musical comedy. On stage, the 14 performers unfold in a space loaded with counterpoints and infinite possibilities where movement and sound interact, offering complex, delicate and bewitching compositions. Animated by energetic music that goes crescendo, it engages the group, duos or quartets and delivers a writing exalted by the splendor of the costumes.

Let's dance on misfortune by Jérôme Thomas

From October 13 to 16 at Cirque Lili, CH La Chartreuse park - Dijon (21) - Creation - Circus - Juggling

Poetic juggler and outsiders, Jérôme Thomas has the gift of creating, show after show, worlds apart. Here he creates a sort of ballet for two jugglers, Gaëlle Cathelineau and Elena Carretero. In the middle of a bed of eggs, like a field of flowers, they play and talk, experimenting in a relationship of strangeness with their environment. A duo that is intended as a metaphor for human unconsciousness in the face of ecological emergency, to address with humor and depth our relationship to the world and our environment.

Tribute to Anna Halprin

From October 14 to 16 at the Théâtre de Nîmes - Nîmes (30)

Died last May at 101, Anna Halprin was one of the figures of American modern dance. The Théâtre de Nîmes pays tribute to him, in collaboration with the dancer and choreographer Anne Collod. The latter notably revisits Parades & Changes, a major piece by Anna Halprin that turned American modern dance upside down, where dancers and circus performers mingle on stage. Also make way for a stroll through the city of Blank placard dance, replay, conferences and film screenings, including the very beautiful Anna Halprin, the breath of dance by Ruedi Gerber. To immerse yourself in the iconoclastic work of a choreographer not so well known in France, but who nevertheless has a fundamental place in the history of dance.

Fables at the fountain by Lia Rodrigues, Béatrice Massin and Dominique Hervieu

From October 7 to 16 at the Théâtre National de la Danse Chaillot - Paris (75) - Recreation - Contemporary dance - Young audiences

At the beginning of the 2000s, Annie Sellem had put into dance some Fables de la Fontaine with thirteen choreographers from all walks of life. Three come back to life again on stage: Against those who have difficult taste by Lia Rodrigues, The Wolf and the Lamb by Béatrice Massin and The Raven and the Fox by Dominique Hervieu. Fantasy, poetry, but also reflections on how these Fables still resonate in the 21st century.

Hope Gala

October 21 at the Casino de Paris - Paris (75) - Gala - Creation - Contemporary dance - Hip Hop - Neo-classical dance

A beautiful dance poster for the benefit of the Institute of Myology, an international reference center for neuromuscular diseases, you can't refuse. On stage: a creation by Laura Arend for Alice Renavand, Mehdi Kerkouche's EMKA company, Marion Motin, two artists from the Malandain Ballet Biarritz for an extract from Mozart at 2, Charlotte Ranson and Yvon Demol for the pas de deux from the Parc d' Angelin Preljocaj... The show will be followed by a dinner signed Pierre Sang, Mory Sacko and Adrien Cachot. A beautiful poster for a good deed.

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