Creation
2026
« The beauty that falls »
Giorgio Agamben on a work by the painter Cy Twombly
To begin with, this leitmotif serves as the foundation for this piece, in which we explore the concepts of grace and romanticism, reflecting on the expressive power of the dancing body. We respond to the brutality of the world through these forms of beauty and freedom.
BURNING THE DAYS is a journey into the heart of dance, sound, and light. In this project, I continue my research (begun in WILDER SHORES and EMPIRE OF FLORA, creations for the Montpellier Danse Festival in 2022 and 2024) on the deconstruction and interweaving of movement vocabularies drawn from different dance forms, in order to create a choreography freed from artistic and historical hierarchies.
In this trio, the performers revisit the vocabulary and forms of classical and neoclassical dance – a vocabulary inscribed in the physical memory of their bodies and often associated with grace and romanticism in our Western imagination.
By extracting this vocabulary from its original context and linking it to other vocabularies drawn from jazz, modern, postmodern, and contemporary dance, the result is a profusion of movement and approaches. Deconstructing and transforming these forms yields a choreography imbued with creative freedom.
By drawing on this history of dance, BURNING THE DAYS explores our memory and our history. A past that serves as a source of strength, provided we use it as a springboard for renewal. It speaks about the necessity of art today.
I would like BURNING THE DAYS to be infused with elemental energy and poetry, using simple means in the service of dance and the performers who bring it to life. An ode to the power of dance, and to the freedom and beauty of the choreographic gesture.
Michèle Murray