The National Choreographic Center (CCN) Ballet de Lorraine was created in 1978 with a dual mission: on one hand, to disseminate and renew the forms of classical ballet and contemporary repertoire, and on the other, to open up to creations by contemporary authors. Especially in the last three years, under the direction of Didier Deschamps, the French company based in Nancy has increased commissions to contemporary authors chosen from both the most well-known in the European scene and within the company, focusing on the revival of significant works from the 20th-century repertoire. The two evenings that the Oriente Occidente Festival dedicates this year to the company are representative of this dual mission: the Loie Fuller Evening brings to the stage a triptych by interesting contemporary authors (Barcellos, Blumenthal, Béranger) who have paid tribute, according to their unique poetics, to the dancer of light beloved by futurists and early 20th-century Parisian poets. The second program, on the other hand, revives four masterpieces of 20th-century dance history, such as José Limón's "La Pavane du Maure," Vaslav Nijinsky's "L'Après-Midi d'un Faune," and Merce Cunningham's "Duets" and "Crises."
As the CCN - Ballet de Lorraine is not, as mentioned, exclusively centered on a single choreographer that defines its artistic identity, but rather serves as a platform for many authors to present the fruits of their research and vision of the world, it is particularly interesting to see how three authors with very different stylistic signatures have conceptualized Loie Fuller.
Christophe Béranger—a dancer who grew up within the Nancy company—authored a short piece entitled "A Corps Perdu" on the theme of a triangular love relationship between two men and a woman. Here, in the unfolding of the power of love and unbridled passion, there is the same freedom cherished by the pioneers of modern dance and Loie Fuller.
