Note of intent

This is of course Ludwig van Beethoven’s 6^th Symphony with the well-known epigraph of the manuscript “Pastoral Symphony, or Recollection of Country Life, which is more an expression of emotion than a descriptive painting”. Reflecting the composer’s ardent love for nature: “I am so happy once I can wander through the woods, thickets, trees and rocks! No man can love the countryside as much as I do” (1) ⁽¹⁾, apart from the birdsong and the storm, The Pastoral Symphony actually expresses feelings more than it imitates things. Filled with serenity and fundamentally idealistic, one can see a watermark of flower-covered paths from ancient pastoral landscapes, and the innocence and tranquillity of yesteryear. Or, hovering like a halo, the sacred dust of Athens, a city revered throughout the ages by the imagination of poets and artists for having created Beauty. Composed at the same time as the 5^th Symphony, which showed man’s struggle with destiny, by abandoning his emotional states to nature, Beethoven resurrected the Arcadia of the golden era in our minds: “a land of shepherds where we lived happily in love”. But can we deviate from reality? Paired with some motifs from The Ruins of Athens and Cantata Op. 112, entitled Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage), in the footsteps of a wandering Companion, a kind of romantic hero, The Pastoral invokes Hellenic Antiquity, as a place of nostalgia and artistic perfection, from the pain of an endless desire to the bliss of the original light. Thierry Malandain ⁽¹⁾ Letter to Thérèse Malfatti, 1807

Media

The result is a white ballet that is all the more beautiful and appealing because it is beautifully danced. The artist has fulfilled one of his duties – he has created beauty.

Le Figaro, Ariane Bavelier • 16 décember 2019

When the metal structure rises, revealing the dancers dressed in white, Malandain offers dazzling classical paintings. Layer continues to stand out, and you can tell that an intimate relationship is being played out with another dancer, while over and over again, the individuals merge into the group.

Financial Times, Laura Cappelle • 18 décember 2019

Between dreamlike Arcadia and overwhelming reality, Thierry Malandain and his 22 dancers provide a magnificent and poignant journey. So many emotions and so much beauty in this new opus by Thierry Malandain ! Superbly inventive, the writing covers mankind’s history full of tension and contrast that unfolds between the desire for beauty and the pain of living, between the dream of a harmonious world and the reality of a life with no horizon.

La Terrasse, Agnès Santi • 24 november 2019