Alessandro Sciarroni
Ballet de l'Opéra de Lyon The Collection

[Dance]

This production sees the Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon restaging the emblematic piece which brought Alessandro Sciarroni widespread critical acclaim in France. It promises to be an extended version of this post-folklore, mythical and utterly hypnotical object, in which the rhythm of the shoe and thigh slapping creates a honed-down, elegant work of art.
 

The Schuhplattler is a centuries-old Tyrolean and Bavarian dance that was invented by peasants, hunters and woodcutters living in the Alps. Beyond the mountain-dweller communities, however, it was always viewed as a fad from times gone by – until, that is, a little-known Italian choreographer appeared on the landscape around ten years ago. By constantly modulating the choreographic sequences present in the dance’s original, authentic form, Alessandro Sciarroni succeeds in transforming this folkloric dance into a meditation on time and gesture, in which the physical effort of the performers is transcended by seemingly unending repetition. Initially a member of the quintet which first performed this work, he now passes on this rubbing of shoulders between cultural inheritance and abstraction to a dozen or so dancers from the Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon. In doing so, he will be taking the autonomy of the movements in relation to their original context one step further – but without losing sight of it. The presence of an accordion and a Tyrolean hat will always be there to remind us.