Djai

Wearing overalls, dancers from the Jeune Ballet de France and from traditionnal thaï dance school perform “Mimi”, a choreography by Daniel Larrieu on the songs “Ménilmontant” and “Revoir Paris” by Charles Trenet.

Dressed in overalls, the dancers of the Jeune Ballet de France and those of the Thai Traditional Dance School interpret Mimi, a choreography by Daniel Larrieu, to Ménilmontant and Revoir Paris sung by Trenet. Created in Bangkok, the show combines the fluid figures and enthusiastic lifts specific to the choreographer with the restraint and complexity of Thai dance. 

A point that these two cultures share is the heart – “Djai” in Thai – that gives its title to this documentary and states the challenge of dance for Daniel Larrieu: that of weaving infinite webs starting from inside the body, from the intimacy of feeling, towards the open, outside space, charged with symbols. This artistic project successfully took account of the interdicts (no mixed dances) and conventions of traditional Thai dance (verticality, the only position authorised) to create a type of two-way transmission between French and Asiatic dancers. It is true that his desire to meet others makes Daniel Larrieu’s career unique. Interspersed with sequences danced by the choreographer in various places in Bangkok, Djai retains the mark of a fine adventure.