Bal solitude | Malandain Ballet

Bal solitude W. A. Mozart, G. Kurtag, P. Prado, C. Cruz, G. Gershwin / Thierry Malandain

Dance and the individual. Dance through the collective spirit of a ball. The individual torn between the conflicting desires of merging and being free. Stories which begin like muffled cries.

In order to give meaning to the range of Danses, Danse, Dans (Dances, Dance, Within), Bal Solitude summons three contrasting musical worlds - groups dancing to the rhythm of 1950s mambos, sensual and inventive duets expressing the soul of dance accompanied by Mozart’s adagios, and highlighting the individual to the twelve-tone score of Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag. The stage design is an aquarium where the dancers move like schools of fish, yet solitary at the same time.

Thierry Malandain

Performed on 2 June 1997 at l’Esplanade de Saint-Etienne

Music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gyorgy Kurtag, Perez Prado, Celia Cruz, George Gershwin

Choreography Thierry Malandain

Set and costumes Jorge Gallardo

Lighting design Jean-Claude Asquié

Full length of the performance 60 minutes

Ballet for 12 dancers

Dancers Giuseppe Chiavaro, Patrice Delay, Valérie Hivonnait, Isaïas Jauregui, Lyane Lamourelle, Carole Philipp, Adriana Pous Ojeda, Thierry Taboni, Brigitte Valverde, Sean Wood

Video by Georges Flores, June 1997

document (pdf) Available soon

“Bal solitude is a very beautiful tribute to dance, to every kind of dance. […] The dancers, imaginary creatures, seem to float between heaven and earth; especially since Malandain’s choreographic language is so fluid and poetic. Even in the most athletic movements, it’s never aggressive. […] The dance company was excellent, with very strong members such as the slender Giuseppe Chiavaro who has maintained his remarkable technique and poise from his time at the Opéra de Paris School of Dance and the Rosella Hightower School in Cannes.”

Shinoshokan Dance Magazine (Japan), Gérard Mannoni, 26 September 2000

“It all begins with a superb solo by Italian Giuseppe Chiavaro dancing to the twelve-tone score of Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag, joined shortly thereafter by a troupe swaying sensually to the rhythm of 1950s mambo music and interrupted from time to time by very beautiful duets, either gentle or troubled, accompanied by Mozart’s adagios; the musical diversity is fully integrated with a very personal dance vocabulary in which movement flows non-stop.”

Ballet 2000, Sonia Schoonejans, November 2000

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