October 1st – 3rd, 2024 Théâtre de la Cité Internationale, Paris October 22nd & 23rd, 2024 Teatro Stabile Torino, Turin October 27th, 2024 I Teatri di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia December 7th, 2024 Les Écuries, Charleroi December 11th & 12th, 2024 Théâtre de Liège, Liège 80 minutes
An Unpredictable Performance from Greece
@ Pinelopi Gerasimou
Following the success of RELIC (2015), TITANS (2017), and ELENIT (2019) — which continue to tour globally — Euripides Laskaridis now presents his latest work, LAPIS LAZULI. Inspired by the mesmerizing blue semi-precious stone known for its unpredictable behavior under pressure, Laskaridis crafts an enigmatic world filled with intriguing dualities. The stone’s name, often interpreted as the “Stone from Heaven”, reflects both earthly and celestial origins, sparking Laskaridis’ exploration of contrasts on stage. Paying tribute to the rich diversity of theatrical genres — from amateur to commercial, horror to musical, ancient Greek drama to Kabuki, and beyond — LAPIS LAZULI also celebrates the complexity of the performing arts.
October 12th, 2024 Theater Bonn Opera House, Bonn October 16th-19th, 2024 Théâtre de la Ville, Paris October 25th-26th, 2024 Teatro Central, Seville October 30th, 2024 Teatro Ariosto, Reggio Emilia November 5th-6th, 2024 International Theater Amsterdam, Amsterdam November 13th, 2024 Le théâtre de Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Nazaire November 15th-16th, 2024 Théâtre de Cornouaille, Quimper November 21st, 2024 Le Quartz, Brest 75 minutes incl. intermission
TAO Dance Theateris a Chinese dance company based in Beijing. Founded in 2008 by the choreographers Tao Ye, Duan Ni and by the producer Wang Hao, the company has an innovative approach to movement, a body technique known as “Circular Movement System”. At its roots is the idea of pure dance, achieved through the “ritualistic repetition of the body’s natural movements”, invoking the spectators’ capacity to concentrate on the essential nature of the repeated gesture, devoid of any ornament.
TAO Dance Theatre’s choreographic Series of Numbers began in 2008 and has been invited onto the most important stages of the world, from the Lincoln Center Art Festival of New York to Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, as well as the Sydney Opera House and the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. Its minimalist aesthetic further codified Tao Ye and Duan Ni’s method, achieving an exasperated repetition that seeks truth in the body.
13 and 14 explore different themes, respectively involving 13 and 14 dancers on stage following the habitual pattern of the series. 13develops along a three-part scheme, exploring three different ways that bodies relate: in the solo, the duet, the ensemble. Starting from the unity of the ensemble, the choreographer progressively fragments the dancers into different formations between ralenti and sudden accelerations, reflecting the “complexity of the physical world, where one is continuously colliding, coming together and apart, falling and bouncing back” within a choreographic form that is both rigorous and open.
A study of rhythm, 14relies on rapid changes of movement that bring out the full range of possibilities between stasis and movement. As the result of a complex dynamism, 14takes the vocabulary of the “Circular Movement System” to the extreme: Points, lines and planes that intersect in space bring the work back to pure movement, deploying the full range of possibilities”.
