Reviews

In the work of Angelin Preljocaj, duets mark the memories of unforgettable images.They say all the magnitude of his choreographic vocabulary, his predilection for mythical or sacred texts, his taste for the introspection of beings and the value of symbols.

- Marie Godfrin

History of the Company

Created in December 1984, the Preljocaj Company became the National Choreographic Centre of Champigny-sur-Marne and Val-de-Marne in 1989.

In 1996, the ballet was welcomed at the Cité du Livre in Aix-en-Provence and became the Ballet Preljocaj – National Choreographic Centre of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, the Bouches-du-Rhône Department, the Pays d’Aix Community and the City of Aix-en-Provence.

Since founding his company, now composed of 24 dancers, Angelin Preljocaj has created 50 choreographic works, ranging from solo to larger formations. The Ballet performs about 100 dates per year on tour, in France and abroad.

His creations have been restaged by numerous other repertory companies, from which he also receives requests to create new pieces. This has been the case with La Scala in Milan and the New York City Ballet, the Staatsoper in Berlin and the Paris National Opera Berlin.

Beyond the repertory performances, the Ballet Preljocaj has been multiplying its local actions in Aix-en-Provence and neighbouring communities, in order to share its passion for dance with a broader public: lectures on dance interpretation through video, public rehearsals,contemporary-dance classes and workshops, and dance interventions in urban public space - all means of viewing and understanding dance from different perspectives.

The Ballet Preljocaj is now settled into its new home, designed by the architect Rudy Ricciotti in Aix-en-Provence. The Pavillon Noir is the first production centre built for dance, where artists will be able to go through the entire creative process, from workshops and rehearsals to staging and performances. The Pavillon Noir opened its doors on October 20, 2006. Angelin Preljocaj is the artistic director. Performances are programmed all year round, Angelin Preljocaj’s creations and also invited companies.

CHOREOGRAPHER：ANGELIN PRELJOCAJ

Angelin Preljocaj was born in the Paris region, in France, and began studying classical ballet before turning to contemporary dance, which he studied with Karin Waehner.

In 1980, he went to New York to work with Zena Rommett and Merce Cunningham, after which he resumed his studies in France, there his teachers included the American choreographer Viola Farber and the French one Quentin Rouillier. He then joined Dominique Bagouet before founding his own company in December 1984.

Angelin Preljocaj collaborates regularly with other artists in various fields such as music(Goran Vejvoda, Air, Laurent Garnier, Granular Synthesis, Karlheinz Stockhausen),visual arts (Claude Lévêque, Subodh Gupta, Adel Abdessemed), design (Constance Guisset), fashion (Jean Paul Gaultier, Azzedine Alaïa), drawing (Enki Bilal) and literature (Pascal Quignard, Laurent Mauvignier)…

He has made short films (Le postier, Idées noires in 1991) and several full-length films, notably

Untrait d’union and Annonciation (1992 and 2003), for which he was awarded the “Grand Prix du Filmd’Art” in 2003, the “Vidéo-Danse” First Prize in 1992 and the Prague Video Festival Prize in 1993. In2009, he directed Snow White, featuring his own piece, and in 2011 he signed, for Air France, thecommercial L’Envol, based on the choreography of Le Parc.

Throughout the course of his career, Angelin Preljocaj has received numerous awards, including the “Grand Prix National de la Danse” awarded by the French Ministry of Culture in 1992, the “Benois de la danse” for Le Parc in 1995, the “Bessie Award” for Annonciation in 1997, “Les Victoires de la musique” for Roméo et Juliettein 1997 and the “Globe de Cristal” for Snow White in 2009. He is an “Officier des Arts et des Lettres” and a “Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur” and he was appointed an “Officier de l’ordre du Mérite” in May 2006. He has received the Samuel H. Scripps/ American Dance Festival Award for 2014.Made with Valérie Müller, the first full-length feature film by Angelin Preljocaj, Polina, danser sa vie ,adapted from the graphic novel by Bastien Vivès, came out in cinemas on November 2016".

Programme: Playlist #1

"A contemporary epic tragedy was what I asked Laurent Mauvignier for ". The choreograph once more wanted to explore human movements as much as words. In the eyes of Angelin Preljocaj, it chiefly concerns a question, that of this young man who comes back to Berratham in search of the woman he loves, Katja. He no longer recognises anything. And while looking for Katja he returns to his childhood, his past. "his story is also the wave of shock and violence, of wounded memory, of the survival instinct". It is the purpose of Angelin Preljocaj’s dance to soothe scars. For Katja. For us.

- Philippe Noisette

What is also fascinating about The Thousand and One Nights is the device established through the figure of Scheherazade. Her language, culture and intelligence make her a bastion against barbarism and challenge us about the place of women in our societies.

- Angelin Preljocaj

And then, one thousand years of peace wishes to graze these bodies that drift along blindly, tossed about by ideals and beliefs, somewhat lost between the lines of the Apocalypse.

A ballet for eight dancers set to several pieces of music by John Cage, SPECTRAL EVIDENCE was influenced by a powerful historical incident — namely, the 1692 Salem witch trials where spectral evidence, gleaned in the dreams of the accusers, resulted in the death of innocent women.

"ln what state does love find itself today, caught up in crisis, a prey to doubt, faced with AIDS? What kind of paths do feelings trace, what kind of itinerary is followed on a journey of the sentiments?”

- Angelin Preljoca

"This Paysage après la bataille is supposed to be the result of imaginary jousts led by two contrasting characters in the art world, representing opposite sides of the creative approach: one, Joseph Conrad, is a writer, the other, Marcel Duchamp, is an artist... Is this then an underground confrontation between an intellectual approach to creation, which will generate conceptual art, and an instinctive vision of art?.."

- Angelin Preljocaj

" An immigrant’s son myself, this city（NYC） had always been mythical for me. A symbol of immigration for those who journey towards new commencements, the notion of “new continent” appeared to me significantly during the creation process... I wanted to present a story from the past that returns like a boomerang. People rising from dust and bringing novelty... The past bursts into the future. As if time was a loop, an eternity".

- Angelin Preljocaj

Choreography awarded at the “Victoires de la Musique” in 1997. In an improbable Verona, fictitious rather than futuristic, housing a favored ruling class (Juliet’s family) and a miserable and exploited population (Romeo’s world), the meeting of two lovers is banned and outlawed. The militia ordained by Juliet’s family to maintain social order is not only a Shakespearian image of fatality, it’s also the influence of power over one of the most essential individual freedoms: the freedom to love.