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Faits et gestes

Noé Soulier

In 2022, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is supporting the Festival d’Automne à Paris to present Faits et Gestes by Noé Soulier.



 

Accompanied by Bach counterpoints and orations by Froberger played on the harpsichord, Faits et gestes blends practical actions, abstract choreographic sequences and meaningful  gestures into a combination which sharpens the senses and models perception.

What differentiates a danced gesture from an action motivated by a practical aim such as the act of throwing, catching, falling or dodging? What schemas of locomotion are revealed by the production of these intentional movements and how can they be transformed into an evolving choreographic score? Picking up on the variety and precariousness of significations attached to the perception of the gesture, Noé Soulier creates a kaleidoscope of actions that oscillates between different regimes of signs, whether they be abstract, mimetic, or practical. The performers repeat, combine, divide, and arrange them in real time, creating a puzzle-like network of different clues that answer each other. The result is a negative space overflowing with signs. The Bach counterpoints and orations by Johann Jakob Froberger, played live on the harpsichord by Maude Gratton, give rise to solo moments – similar to zooming in on different parts of the body as they isolate inflections. Notes and gestures seem to enter into dialogue, exposing a language on the brink of articulation. The result is a rhetoric of the infra-thin, which filters into the bodies and space, recomposing a perceptive labyrinth in expansion.

Photo: © Noé Soulier

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About the artist

Noé Soulier

In 2025, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels presents the pieces by Noé Soulier In the Fall in collaboration with Sadler's Wells and Close Up in collaboration with Royal Ballet and Opera as part of the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels festival in London. 

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About the partner

Affiche du Festival d'Automne à Paris 2024

Festival d'Automne à Paris

In 2024, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is renewing its support for the Paris Festival d’Automne in the creation and presentation of 10 artistic works. A major sponsor since 2020, Dance Reflections is also engaged alongside the Festival in its social action in the city of Paris and the Île-de-France region.  

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