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Merce Cunningham Forever
Shows
Last updated date : 01/08/2023
Merce Cunningham Forever. To celebrate the American master’s influential work, the Lyon Opera Ballet presents Beach Birds and BIPED, two seminal pieces introducing the art of dance to the 21st century. Be sure to discover the work of one of the leading figures of abstract dancing.
Beach Birds, Created in 1991
Revival
Beach Birds was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of James Joyce’s death; the author was an inspiration for John Cage. In this contemplative landscape, precision opens the door to a vast array of feelings. Cage’s serene music is intertwined with Cunningham’s two-coloured figures, etching a delicate calligraphy onto the stage. Between motionless statues and birds light as feathers, the dancers create fluid figures, shaped and evolving into one another from duos to trios along everchanging rhythms. Experience the softness of dawn, listen to the birds singing, feel the sound of the sea, the seaweeds in motion… Beach Birds is a kaleidoscope of images and sensations “between rivers and oceans…”.
BIPED, Created in 1999
Addition to the repertoire
BIPED, the new addition to the Ballet’s repertoire, was created using the motion generation software LifeForms. Cunningham thus produced an augmented choreography for artificial shapes: giant, slender forms projected next to the people dancing on stage. By multiplying moving figures and dimensions, BIPED is set to produce abstract forms (lines, points) making up a colourful drape upon which gazes tend to flutter. Reality and virtual worlds become intertwined in a tapestry threaded with light, enhanced by Gavin Bryars’ music, creating a utopic space of haphazard coordinates. The Merce Cunningham Forever programme, where the sensuous meets the abstract, renders the spirit of this modern dance master, “such as into Himself at last eternity changes him.”
Choreography : Merce Cunningham
BALLET OF THE OPÉRA DE LYON
Practical information
Address
Place de la Comédie - 69001 Lyon 1er
Prices
From 10 to 45€.
Lyon City Card et Lyon City Card 365 : 15% off on all the programming from €10, except on gala evenings and on December 31st.
More information from the Opera.
Openings
From Tuesday 16 to Wednesday 17 April 2024 at 8 pm.
From Friday 19 to Sunday 21 April 2024
Opening hours on Friday and Saturday at 8 pm. On Sunday at 4 pm.
Shows
Merce Cunningham Forever
The Lyon Opera House
Place de la Comédie - 69001 Lyon 1er
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