Estro

Thierry Malandain has based this creation on Stabat Mater and Estro Armonico Op.3 by Antonio Vivaldi, a “souped up’’ music, almost subject to the tyranny of always more, hence the temptation to call this ballet : too much? Here the choreographer’s creation is based on the desire to rise and the effort required to reach the summit of a mountain, seen as the place where the sky meets the earth. According to the words of André Lendger: ‘‘today it is easier to climb an 8 000 metre summit than rise just a few centimetres inside oneself.’’

With next to nothing – (…) just a few recycled paint pots turned into magic lanterns – Thierry Malandain creates a setting of both dramatic and joyful celebration, where the suffering of an inconsolable mother is overcome by the irresistible joy of dance.

Ballroom revue, Isabelle Calabre • 8 July 2014