Le Parc

Angelin Preljocaj created  Le Parc  in 1994 for the ballet of the Opéra de Paris with Isabelle Guérin and  Laurent Hilaire  in the leading roles. The choreography plays with elements from both classical and contemporary ballet, which requires the dancers to be extremely precise. With these means, Angelin Preljocaj takes a contemporary look at the highly stylized traditions and rules for love and life at the European courts of the 17th and 18th centuries. 

As the events progress, a game develops between temptation and devotion, between budding and disappointed love affairs, between fleeting and yet long-lasting encounters.  The tone for these amorous entanglements is set by various orchestral works by Wolfang Amadeus Mozart as well as the noise and sound landscapes created especially for  Le Parc by Goran Vejvoda. Thierry Leproust's stage design is based on classicist parks in France and creates an ambiguous space for the mystery of love. In it, the costume designer Hervé Pierre sets off a fascinating play of fabrics. He dresses the ensemble in Rococo fashion and uses the exciting contrast between courtly dress code and bourgeois rule breaking. The main couple grows closer throughout the ballet's three acts, finally coming together in the final pas de deux, which has become known as the "flying kiss."

Program and cast

occupation

choreography

Angelin Preljocaj

Music

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Sound design

Goran Vejvoda

musical direction

Koen Kessels

stage

Thierry Leproust

costumes

Herve Pierre

Lighting design according to Jacques Chatelet

Christian Kass

rehearsal

Naomi Perlov Laurent Hilaire

Ensemble of the Bavarian State Ballet

Bavarian State Orchestra