© Ann Ray / OnP
"Astound me!" Challenging Jean Cocteau in
this way, Serge Diaghilev, the entrepreneur of Les Ballets Russes, invited the
young artist to create for his company. Over a century later, Alexandre Ekman,
the new wunderkind of dance, has made this injunction his own, and astounds
audiences in theatres all over the world, reaching out to them through
spectacular and inventive pieces full of mischievous, incisive energy. Play,
his first creation for the Paris Opera Ballet, is typical of his approach,
which draws viewers into a whirlwind of sensations while raising serious
questions about the world. To original music by Mikael Karlsson, he explores
play through the various stages of life, and wonders what adults do with their
childhood games. The director T.M. Rives, another fellow traveller, went behind
the scenes at the opera and filmed three sequences of the creative process.
The Buddies
Meute de Fnerfs
Pas de deux
The Off Lady
Your reading: Behind the scenes of Play
