Les Beaux-Jours / transmission II

Les Beaux Jours is a solo inspired by Balthus’ work.  This performance, created in 1997 with dancer Tijen Lawton, was passed on to Katrien Vandergooten in 2011 and performed by dancer Malika Djardi … 

Les Beaux Jours demands precise placement of the body, and the quality of movement to go from one scene to the next, one woman to another. The performer embodies and navigates thirty-two of Balthus’ scenes, putting together the entire choreographic score.  

This meditative and sculptural solo is committed to expressing an atmosphere.  Without a set, it relies on the embodiment of the balthussian aesthetic.  At one point, this balthussian atmosphere is abandoned in favour of pure dance movement, as the body grapples with its obstacles, its moments of rest, and its ultimate resurrection.