Perhaps nothing could define the show better than the image of a relay runner handing over the baton to his teammate : the combining of musical and choreographics phrases taken from here and there, an interplay of crossings, glidings and parallel and different movements, recounting to us the eternal story of man and woman, of couples forming and splitting, of the group versus the couple, and drawing for us the changing yet immortal figure of the hero. The alternating of playful and serious moments, of what is danced and what is not danced, of moments and contemplation, where energy espouses emotion and where gestures form one body with the music.
In Sinfonia Eroïca, couples form and split up, with one woman remaining by necessity single, during stories that are suggested rather than focused on. I am attempting to bring into play what these stories trigger outside the couple, to see male complicity compared with female complicity, to grasp the relationship established between the bodies of the men and the women in the dance. I also question the idea of an everyday hero, and the heroic aspect of the couple and the group. how does one become a hero in life, and how does one become a hero from the moment one is designated as such in the eyes of the others ?
Created in 1990, Sinfonia Eroïca was performed sixteen years later, in june 2006 in Charleroi. I wanted to revive Sinfonia Because I am very fond of it: this show has been important for me, for my work and for the life of the company. The audience also gave it and extraordinary welcome. In Sinfonia there is a way of approaching the group relationship and the relationship with the stage which is specific to my way of working and which is as valid today as it was in the past. It is a show whose every aspect – musical, dramatic and scenographic – has been worked out in depth but which is essentially based on the collective impetus and energy which the group produces on the stage, giving it a form of innocence and lightness that is magical. This magic is what I wanted to create.
A show by Michèle Anne De Mey
Assistant & Music advisor : Thierry De Mey
Re-created and performed by Rita Alves, Cassandre Cantillon, Csenger K. Szabo Robson Ledesma, Alexandre Nadra, Eléonore Pinet-Bodin, Margarida Ramalhete, Violette Wanty, Chetan Yeragera
Production : Astragales ASBL
Astragales est une compagnie de danse contemporaine dirigée par la chorégraphe belge Michèle Anne De Mey. Fondée en 1989, Astragales jouit d'une réputation internationale tout en étant solidement ancrée en Belgique, son pays d'origine. Michèle Anne De Mey travaille avec un style de danse contemporaine qui interagit avec d'autres disciplines grâce à de solides partenariats et à des amitiés de longue date, ainsi qu'à de nouvelles rencontres.
“Those present have not forgotten the energy of this piece, its sudden modernity, the call to dance it transmitted to the audience, the marriage with Beethoven's music, the collective momentum, the magical lightness (...) With the music of the last movement of Beethoven's 3rd symphony - the "cavalcade" - we witness a memorable and spectacular overflow of water onto the stage, with the dancers gliding joyfully along. "It's a letting go, a fireworks display, a festival like the Indian festival of colors". (...) "Dance and music constantly respond to each other in a magnificent marriage".”
“There's nothing dated about it. On the contrary, the piece seems younger than ever, the nine performers having made it their own. You can feel it in some of the solos, duets and trios, each with its own personality. But also in the dynamic of the show, boosted by the orchestra (...). the orchestra (...) This Sinfonia Eroica sweeps everything along in its wake, with its laughter, its seduction games, its acrobatic lifts, its floor slides and those moments of pure magic when a dancer balances, sitting on the rope, for several minutes. Or when she spins like a top, suspended from a cable.”
“The eternal story of male-female relationships, the experience of tandems that come and go, and the special role of the group in the couple. A dazzling, insolent and sunny parade of love, alternating between the serious and the entertaining, the effervescent and the contemplative... (...)”
“Those present have not forgotten the energy of this piece, its sudden modernity, the call to dance it transmitted to the audience, the marriage with Beethoven's music, the collective momentum, the magical lightness (...) With the music of the last movement of Beethoven's 3rd symphony - the "cavalcade" - we witness a memorable and spectacular overflow of water onto the stage, with the dancers gliding joyfully along.”
“A dazzling, insolent, sunny parade of love, alternating between the serious and the entertaining, the effervescent and the contemplative.”
29 MAR 2025 | St Pölten (Autriche) : Festspielhaus St Pölten | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |
30 SEP 2023 | Turnhout, Belgique : Cultuurhuis de Warande | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |
22 NOV 2023 | Colombes (92): L'Avant-Seine, Théâtre de Colombes | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |
24 NOV 2023 | Noisy-le-Grand (93): Espace Michel Simon | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |
28 NOV 2023 | Arcachon (33): L'Olympia - Arcachon Culture | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |
01 DEC 2023 | Saint Quentin En Yvelines (78): Théâtre Saint Quentin En Yvelines - scène nationale | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |
02 DEC 2023 | Saint Quentin En Yvelines (78): Théâtre Saint Quentin En Yvelines - scène nationale | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |
23 JAN 2024 | Annecy (74): Bonlieu Scène Nationale | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |
24 JAN 2024 | Annecy (74): Bonlieu Scène Nationale | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |
28 MAY 2024 | Lieusaint (77): Théâtre-Sénart, Scène nationale | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |
29 MAY 2024 | Lieusaint (77): Théâtre-Sénart, Scène nationale | BILLETS PRO REQUEST |