Retour sur scène — Ma Mère l'Oye
After the noise…
What a strange week… A comment I left under a post on social media somehow got more attention from news outlets and commentators than I anticipated. My short comment had more leg to it than the few compressed characters of a social media post — I developed this in a longer essay (here the link). Still, with the backlash getting out of proportion, reading some of the comments and watching countless reels with all sorts of takes on it, I find myself reflecting further on the cultural significance of this episode, the conversation it brought to light — old and new — and my own position on the subject.
"No one cares about this anymore" — T. Chalamet
In a long interview with Matthew McConaughey and Timothée Chalamet for Variety, Chalamet made a quick — and out of context — comment on ballet and opera. "I don't want to be working in ballet or opera or things where it's like, 'Hey! Keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.'" While it may be a quirky uneducated comment, it points to a far more serious topic.
Ballet's Future in Europe
Europe is producing exceptional ballet dancers. It may also be quietly dismantling the conditions that make them possible.
Entering the Year with Delicacy
At the start of 2026, despite what we may be going through in our own lives, the news around us constantly reminds us of the turmoil in the surrounding world. Whether wars, the state of the planet, or human miseries both small and large, there are many reasons to grieve, to be moved while witnessing helpless the tribulations of a faltering humanity.
Somei Satoh
Somei Satoh has emerged as one of Japan’s most highly acclaimed composers. Filtered through Toru Takemitsu’s cross-cultural prism, his work shares similarities with the post-Minimalism of composers such as Arvo Pärt and Henryk Gorecki as well as the sacred music of iconoclasts such as John Tavener…
Arvo Pärt
On 5 December 1976, Arvo Pärt heard on the radio of Benjamin Britten’s death and was deeply affected by the news. The composer has said: "I had just discovered Britten for myself. Just before his death I began to appreciate the unusual purity of his music – I had had the impression of the same kind of purity in the ballads of Guillaume de Machaut…
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki
Three Pieces in an Old Style - Henryk Mikołaj Górecki
As the title suggests, the work refers to the style of the old ages, a characteristic which first appeared in Górecki's music in the 1960s. The inspiration was provided by papers on old Polish music which had been published in the magazines "Muzyka" and "Ruch Muzyczny" in 1958-61 and included Karol Hławiczka's series "Ze studiów nad muzyką polskiego Odrodzenia" / "From the Studies of the Polish Renaissance Music"….
Takashi Yoshimatsu
Takashi Yoshimatsu was born in Tokyo in 1953, at a time when Japanese composers had embraced the trend towards avant-garde techniques. While absorbing these, Yoshimatsu opposed the general fashion, returning to popular rhythms and romantic melody and coming to be regarded as the standard-bearer of Neo-Romanticism in Japan…
Kiyoshige Koyama
“Kiyoshi Koyama was born in Nagano Prefecture in 1914. His composition teachers included Kornei Abe, a student of composer/conductor Klaus Pringsheim, and Tomojiro Ikenouchi. He didn't turn to composing music until he was almost 30, and although he was strongly nationalistic and influenced by such figures as his contemporary Akira Ifukube, whose work was heavily based on traditional material, Koyama's musical voice didn't emerge until after Japan's imperialist period was over…
Nomination to the Benois de la Danse 2024
It is my great honour to share with you the news of my nomination for the Benois 2024 in Choreography for the ballet Giselle, created for the Ballet du Rhin.
I am grateful for this nomination, which is a testament to the great collective work of the dancers, my team, the company and its director, Bruno Bouché, the Symphonic Orchestra of Mulhouse and Sora Elisabeth Cohen, without whom it could not have got to what I envisioned in embarking in this journey….
Article “Tanz” Magazine
Here is the article and critique about “Endstation Sehnsucht” from Dorion Weickmann, published in the “Tanz” magazine (April)…
Violence against women
After posting about what constitutes the musical environment on which the ballet rests, I would like to address what the core of the ballet/piece is about - Violence against women….
Billie Holiday
Last but not least on the playlist for “A Streetcar Named Desire” is none other than Billie Holiday, my favourite singer of all….
Ella Fitzgerald
Aside from the previous classical composer, the musical palette that shapes the musical dramaturgy of my “Streetcar Named Desire” has three jazz songs in it….
George Walker
The last classical afro-american composer I chose for my ballet is George Walker.
“George Theophilus Walker (June 27, 1922 – August 23, 2018) was an American composer, pianist, and organist, and the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, which he received for his work Lilacs in 1996….
Julia Perry
Next on the list of the composers for “A Streetcar Named Desire” is Julia Perry.
“Julia Amanda Perry (25 March 1924 – 24 April 1979) was an American classical composer and teacher who combined European classical and neo-classical training with her African-American heritage…
William Grant Still
Going down the list of afro-american composers who are part of the musical choice for my ballet “A Streetcar named Desire” (see previous post) is William Grant Still.
“William Grant Still Jr. (May 11, 1895– December 3, 1978) was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works, art songs, chamber music, and solo works.
Florence Price
For the creation of my ballet “A Streetcar Named Desire” with the Cottbus Ballet, one aspect of the original play that is not explicitly addressed is the theme of “Blackness” or the elements associated with black culture. I thought it was important to underline its importance as the story happens in one of the most influential cultural environments, “New Orleans” - a city deeply rooted in black culture, particularly in jazz music…
Statement
Statement
On November 7th and 8th 2023, the Bolshoi Ballet will perform my ballet "Silentium", originally created in 2020.
The performance rights for this work have expired as of September 2023, and the theater has approached me to renew them for another three years. However, my team and I have decided we cannot accept their offer in good conscience…