BALLET DU GRAND Théâtre DE GENÈVE

On the set, a platform tilted at 34 degrees rises diagonally towards the heights. Above, on their knees, crawling, sliding backwards or for brief moments standing, 17 dancers tirelessly persist in climbing the slope and avoiding a fall. Skid, premièred in 2017 at the Gothenburg Opera, puts bodies to the test of gravity. This piece, imagined by the visual artists Jim Hodges and Carlos Marques da Cruz, becomes the field of multiple physical experiments evoking a host of emotional states, from resistance to abandonment. In this unstable universe, physical contact with the other remains the best recourse against the call of the void, a beautiful metaphor for the human condition.

Conversely, Vïa, premièred in April 2023 by Fouad Boussouf, forcefully returns to the ground from which everything was born. A completely new setting for VÏA, where bodies evolve forcefully on the ground upon a set evoking both the sun-heated tarmac of urban dances and the African land of our origins.

For this piece, the choreographer has entrusted the artist Ugo Rondinone, with whom he collaborated in 2020 for a video-dance installation, with the creation of a flooring evoking both the sun-heated tarmac of urban dances and the African land of our origins. Supported by the electro-symphonic pulsations of Gabriel Majou, these 15 performers cross a series of organic metamorphoses through cycles of dance that link one after the other, right through to trance. Like a vital breath that never stops.

Damien Jalet, 

Damien Jalet is an independent choreographer and dancer who moves from major international collaborations to more personal projects. His work, often collaborative, bears witness to the power of dance to constantly reinvent itself in dialogue with other disciplines such as the visual arts, music, film and fashion. He has worked for ballets C de la B, Sasha Waltz, Chunky Move, Eastman, NYDC, Hessisches Staatsballett, the Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris, Scottish Dance Theatre, Iceland Dance Company, and others.

For the stage, he has created Babel(words) (2013); Boléro (2013); Inked (2013); Les Médusés (2013); YAMA (2014); Gravity Fatigue (2015); VESSEL (2015); Thr(o)ugh(2016); SKID (2017); Pelléas et Mélisande (2018); Omphalos (2018).

On screen, he collaborated with director Gilles Delmas to create The Ferryman in 2016, with the participation of Marina Abramović and Ryūichi Sakamoto, a film presented at the Venice Biennale in 2017. In 2018, he choreographed Luca Guadagnino’s remake Suspiria. The following year he choreographed Paul Thomas Anderson’s film Anima with Thom Yorke, who also composed the music; the work was nominated for a Grammy Award as “Best Musical Film” and won a UK Music Video Award for “Best Choreography”.

Most recently, he created Brise-lames (2020) for the Paris Opera Ballet with the visual artist JR, the pianist Koki Nakano and the dancer Aimilios Arapoglou; in collaboration with the artist Kohei Nawa, with whom he created VESSEL, he created the film Mist for NDT1 and then created Planet[wanderer] at Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse (2021); he created Kites (2022) for the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani.

He also collaborated on certain sequences for Madonna’s 2019-2020 theatrical tour, Madame X; he created the choreography for several songs on her 2023-2024 event tour, The Celebration Tour, for which he is also creative advisor. In 2023, he will choreograph Emilia Perez, Jacques Audiard’s first musical (due for release in 2024).

Damien Jalet was appointed Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government at the end of 2022.

Fouad Boussouf

A dancer, choreographer and teacher of dance, Fouad Boussouf, born in Morocco, arrived in France at the age of 7. There, he was introduced to hip-hop dance, modern jazz and the new circus, before founding the Massala company in 2010. His plays, including Näss (Les Gens) and OÜM, are inspired by his multi-faceted training and the culture of his country of origin. Since January 2022, he has been directing the Le Havre National Choreographic Centre.

Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève

Founded in 1962 as a permanent company, the Grand Théâtre de Genève Ballet, composed of 22 artists, has been under the direction of the artist and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui since 2022.