In the second program presented by Ballet de Lorraine at the Oriente Occidente Festival, the common thread is not thematic but rather historical and chronological. From the origins of modern dance with "L’Après-Midi d’un Faune," the revolutionary choreography by Nijinski in 1912 for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, we move to the mid-20th century with Limón's "La Pavane du Maure," and then to the post-modern flavors of Merce Cunningham.
"L’Après-Midi d’un Faune" (The Afternoon of a Faun) caused scandal at its premiere at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris due to its erotic and sensual charge from the libretto (based on Stéphane Mallarmé's eclogue) and its innovative choreographic conception. Inspired by Hellenic bas-reliefs, Nijinski devised a choreography almost exclusively performed in profile, characterized by lateral movements and angular lines. History, as often happens, has contradicted the Parisian audience, entrusting this work, which must be seen, with the key to modernity.
Born in New York in 1949, José Limón's "La Pavane du Maure" (The Moor's Pavane) is one of the masterpieces of modern dance, an enviable ballet of dramatic synthesis for four performers. A pas de quatre, precisely modulated to the music of Henry Purcell and only loosely inspired by Shakespeare's Othello as recalled by its original subtitle ("Variations on the Theme of Othello"). Presented in the form of pavanes and other seventeenth-century court dances, Limón's choreography tells the story of the unfortunate Moor, his wife, and the treacherous friends. Four temperaments to describe the tragedy of man and the drama of jealousy, culminating beautifully in the final scene where emotions settle in the face of the inevitable.
Finally, the 1960s-1980s brought the abstract dance of the American post-modern master, of chance, and liberated energies in space, conceived without any centrality or preferred point. Thus, the six couples of "Duets" (1980) propel themselves into space, sometimes performing true pas de deux, sometimes following independent paths, much like the independent music of John Cage (Improvisation n.3) compared to the dance. Set to Conlon Nancarrow's music ("Rythm Studies n.1, n. 2, n. 4, n. 5, n. 7, n. 6"), the other piece presented, "Crises" (1960), focuses on the theme of contact with six dancers. Four women and two men venture into the experience of being together, touching with hands or through objects (elastic bands tied to wrists, arms, and legs), allowing for the chance encounter experience.
