CLASSIQUE - Variation n°5 - Épreuves de danse 2025

This solo was created especially for the public competitions, in response to a request for a neo-classical variation on pointe for the 3rd cycle. I wanted to take into account the technical elements that need to be acquired at this level, but also to emphasise the interpretive dimension that is essential to the dancer’s artistic development. I therefore invite you to connect with your sensibility and your imagination to nourish your movement. The theme of this solo comes from Stéphane Mallarmé’s famous sonnet Le vierge, le vivace et le bel aujourd’hui, which tells us about a swan that has forgotten to migrate and whose plumage is caught in the ice. 

http://www.revue-texto.net/Reperes/Cours/Mezaille/cygnmal.html CLASSIQUE

In the very first part of the solo, her feet never leave the ground (or the frozen water of the lake) and the dancer tries to tear herself away from the ground, trying in vain to regain her flight, sending out calls to the heavens. Little by little our animal regains some of its strength and begins a livelier dance, as if shaking off the contact of the cold water. Take care to highlight this change in dynamics. The movement becomes even wider, using higher leg extensions and large jumps. These jumps also break away from gravity and should express this dramatic dimension. The efforts have been in vain and our swan returns painfully to the ground from which it may never detach itself. 

In places you will recognise the aesthetics of the arms or certain steps linked to the inescapable

Swan Lake (arched arms expressing flight, emboités of the little swans performed here while turning, cat leap, etc.). 

Take inspiration from these quotes and make them recognisable. The hands should be part of the body’s eloquence. The pirouettes outside must be gliding, and give priority to this quality over quantity. 

The music was created especially for this solo by the young composer Jacopo Greco d’Alceo. He first suggested sound samples which I used as a basis for the choreography. Sensitivity to musical colour therefore seems important to me, and we worked without accounts. A certain amount of flexibility can therefore be left to the performers, without detaching you from your sense of listening. 

I hope you enjoy taking up all these little challenges and I wish you all the best in your work. 

Pierre DARDE