Kyoto - Saitama

Launched in 2020, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, a patronage program in favor of dance, embodies three essential values: creation, education, and transmission. The support given to choreographers and institutions is accompanied by yearly Festivals presented with a large network of partners. After London (March 2022), Hong Kong (May 2023), and New York (October 2023), the event will take place in Kyoto and Saitama, Japan from October 4th to November 16th, 2024. The performances, meetings with artists, workshops open to all, and the exhibition accompanying this new edition are an opportunity to continue our collaboration with Kyoto Experiment, Saitama Art Theater, and ROHM Theater Kyoto, and to present a broad panorama of contemporary dance to the Japanese public.

This new event will be inaugurated with the exhibition I felt the stars in that room. by American photographer Olivia Bee, presented in collaboration with KYOTOGRAPHIE. A perfect introduction to the spirit of the Festival, it unveils photographs capturing the most beautiful moments from previous editions and highlights an instantaneous vision of the art of movement.

The programming for Japan was developed around historical references while showcasing current creations. Ola Maciejewska invites us to reflect on the legacy of dance with Loïe Fuller: Research and Bombyx Mori, born from her research on Loïe Fuller’s Serpentine Dance (1892). Alessandro Sciarroni, on the other hand, explores the traditional repertoire of Italy’s Bologna region with Save the Last Dance for Me.

This look to the past also leads us to present works from the contemporary repertory that, through their unique writings and innovative approaches, have contributed to the development of dance vocabulary. Soapéra, an Installation (2014), perfectly illustrates the close relationship between dance and the visual arts. In this work, Mathilde Monnier and Dominique Figarella invite viewers to contemplate an ephemeral choreographic and plastic creation that questions the codes of representation. We then follow the research Christian Rizzo embarked on after observing an improvised circle dance of a group of men in Istanbul. Drawing from their folk practices, the artist created D’après une histoire vraie in 2013.

Furthermore, the recent pieces presented at this edition attest to the inventive capacity of choreographers. Making its debut in Japan, (LA)HORDE – the Ballet national de Marseille presents Room With a View which illustrates the unparalleled encounter between a unique universe combining dance and electronic music. Bringing together narratives, circus arts, and contemporary dance in Corps extrêmes, Rachid Ouramdane proposes an aerial composition combining physical prowess with the poetry of movement. Lastly, with C A R C A Ç A, Marco da Silva Ferreira deploys a daring vocabulary where the leg work of voguing and house are in dialog with movements drawn from folk dances.

In collaboration with our Japanese partners whom we thank warmly, this Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival invites us all to encounter a choreographic art flourishing at the intersection of artistic disciplines.

SERGE LAURENT
Van Cleef & Arpels’ Director of Dance and Culture Programs