Liberté Cathédrale

The cathedral of Boris Charmatz - and its thirty dancers - has no walls. With its human architecture and a congregation dancing, singing and reverberating, Liberté Cathédrale expands upon the idea and the images underpinning this structure. It is a cathedral that has neither walls nor bell tower. And yet the bell peals. Liberté Cathédrale combines congregational dance, human architecture and a web of relationships, gestures and intimate and distant contact between the bodies.

Some 30 performers from the Tanztheater Wuppertal - Pina Bausch's company, where Boris Charmatz is the new director – join dancers the choreographer has already worked with through his company, [terrain], and together deliver this vibrant choreographic edifice. Emphasizing his attraction to complex spaces and his commitment to broadening the definition of dance, the artist provides a new interpretation of religious and heritage monuments through this piece. The unbroken sound of the peal of bells, singing and the blast of an organ intertwine in the air of this meditative performance. Except when there is total silence. In church, as elsewhere, silence is always deafening.

Photo: © Boris Charmatz