Paris Embraces The New - fall dance season for Paris Opera Ballet - Brief Article

Dance Magazine, Oct, 2000 by Karyn Bauer

Paris is ushering in the first fall season of the millennium with a host of world premieres, refurbished theaters and new dance spaces. The French capital will showcase a vast array of international dance, ranging from classical to contemporary.

In 1862, when Napoleon III ordered the construction of an opera house in the heart of Paris, architect Charles Garnier set out to design an exterior as inspirational as its internal performances. Until recently, 150 years' worth of soot and grime had obscured the legendary Palais Garnier, which overlooks the Place de l'Opera. But on June 20, after two years of restoration costing $10 million, a glittering new Palais Gamier debuted in time for the Paris Opera Ballet's twenty-first century season.

Among the highlights of the 2000-2001 POB season will be the world premiere of Yamm by the young French choreographer Lionel Hoche October 22-November 7. January brings a rendition of Marius Petipa's Paquita revisited by artistic director Pierre Lacotte, well-known for his revival of La Sylphide. The POB goes contemporary in May with the world premiere of Jean-Claude Gallotta's Nosferatu. With this piece, Gallotta, director of the Grenoble Choreographic Center, says he "hopes to give spectators the chance to see if something can survive after the kiss of the vampire."

Paris's Theatre de la Ville will also open a new dance space and present thirty-five performance runs in the course of one season. The "coupole," a rehearsal space located inside the centrally located Theatre de la Ville, will present lesser-known young choreographers to smaller crowds of dance aficionados. It is the second new space to be inaugurated by theater director Gerard Violette in five years (the first was the Theatre des Abbesses, opened in 1995).

According to Violette, dance in Europe has evolved to the point where proposed performances outnumber spaces in which to show them. The opening of this new space this season will not only provide a much-needed outlet for young artists, but will also be the opportunity for Violette to take risks. "There are tired heroes whom I no longer wish to fund," Violette said. "Then, there are the fresh new talents who have imposed themselves ... recently, I have seen some things that have been absolutely incredible!"

Wim Vandekeybus will present his latest, Inasmuch as Life is borrowed ... November 22-25, followed by the Japanese butoh troupe Sankai Juku with Ushio Amagatsu December 15-21. The mainstage will close with an as yet untitled world premiere by Pina Bausch June 7-14. Spanish performance artist La Ribot breaks in the coupole on February 13 with her latest, Still Distinguished, followed by South African Robyn Orlin's revisitation of Swan Lake entitled Daddy, I've seen this piece six times before and I still don't know why they're hurting each other ... and French dancer Herve Robbe with Polaroid