|
Estivales Danses Celebrating its fifth anniversary, Estivales Danses, Paris' only annual performing arts festival devoted exclusively to dance, once again proposes an exciting program from June 28 to July 9 of diverse styles by 19 choreographers, most of whom teach year-round at the Harmonic Dance Studio complex near the Bastille. The rustic atmosphere and community spirit in the charmingly decrepit Bouffes du Nord Theater makes for laid-back artsy evenings that extend into the wee hours of the night after the show at the cozy post-New Age café next door, reminiscent of the heyday of Greenwich Village. The bent is definitely contemporary dance, modern jazz, dance-theater with a dash of hip-hop (mixed programs include three or four groups per evening), and the flavor is multiculturally experimental. Hats off to festival founder Jean-Pierre Reyes, who gives so many talented self-produced choreographers like Budapest-born Pal Frenak or Tel-Aviv-born Yuval Pick a forum to present new works. Estivales Danses, June 28 to July 9 at 9pm, Théâtre du Bouffes du Nord, 37 bis, bd de la Chapelle, 10e, METRO: Porte de la Chapelle, tel: 01.46.07.34.50. Paris Quartier d'Eté Paris Quartier d'Eté, now in its 10th year, offers midsummer night dreams in the open air through mid-August. The reasonably priced dance events, held outdoors in the historic Palais Royal gardens, account for just a small part of month-long festivities. While this year no American troupes are invited and the programming is somewhat slimmer than usual, featuring a revival of Karine Saporta's "Phaëton," and a work by the very "in" Lyon-based hip-hop group Käfig, titled "Récital." The guest list features an exotic addition, the Ballet des Iles de la Sonde, whose work "Le Royaume oublié" combines masked dance, shadow plays and martial arts, and a pan-European program Europa Danse of neo-classical works (Balanchine, Forsythe, Kylian, etc.), featuring 30 young award-winning dancers from France, Spain, England, Portugal, Sweden and Italy. Paris Quartier d'Eté July 14 to Aug 15; "Phaëton," July 21-23; "Le Royaume oublié,"July 27-30; "Récital," August 3-5; "Europa Danse," August 9-12, all shows at 10pm, Palais Royal, METRO: Palais Royal, tel; 01.44.94.98.00. Montpellier Danse '99 Far from the madding crowd and Parisian pollution, the Montpellier dance festival is without doubt France's if not all of Europe's major dance venue. Montpellier is in its 19th year, always beginning shortly after the summer equinox and this year runs to July 10. Like the famous Biennale de Lyon, Montpellier carefully chooses an appealing theme each year. The program this year celebrates a double centenary with a theme of modern dance and cinema. The festival begins with a retrospective of the work of American dance pioneers Alwin Nikolaïs and Murray Louis. Likewise, Philippe Découflé will present two of his repertoire works, "Triton" and "Shazam." Other highlights include a creation by the renowned onstage/offstage duo Bouvier-Obadia. From morning to night there's something to discover in this enchanting southern French town near the Camargue. Festival International Montpellier Danse, June 25 to July 10 (times and location vary), festival office: Hôtel d'Assas, 6, rue Vieille Aiguillerie, Montpellier, tel: 04.67.60.83.60. Festival Danse à Aix After a long two-year absence from the summer festival menu due to financial and structural difficulties, everyone's thrilled to see that the 20-year old Danse à Aix festival is at last revived, offering a full two-week program from July 18 through August 8. Serious dance fans have historically headed to Aix-en-Provence after Montpellier, and this year audiences will be able to catch up on several shows they missed in Paris last season, as well as new creations by contemporary choreographers, such as Georges Appaix, Joseph Nadj, Christine Bastin, Daniel Larrieu and Hervé Robbe. Angelin Preljocaj, who has settled in the Aix region and runs the Centre Chorégraphique National de la Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, will close the festival with his premiere of "Personne n'épouse les méduses." Festival Danse à Aix, July 18 to Aug 8 (times and locations vary), festival office: Conservatoire Darius Milhaud, 3, rue Joseph Cabassol, Aix-en-Provence; tel: 04.42.26.84.19. Les Hivernales, Avignon Festival "In" and "Off" This year's edition of Les Hivernales is two-fold with part of the programming scheduled in the officially sponsored Avignon extravaganza and other works in the "off" festival. Avignon has been the pillar of summer festivals for decades, although the emphasis has traditionally been on dramatic theater. The Hivernales fest within a fest has aimed for several years to make up for the lack of dance in their own unique space, La Manutention. As with all the other summer events, only contemporary and modern dance works are presented. The "off" part will include primarily young dancemakers in short pieces, such as Yann Lheureux/Emmanual Grivet, Anne Dreyfus and Jésus Hidalgo. The "in" performances of the Hivernales held in the courtyard of the Faculté des Sciences feature more established choreographers: Catherine Berbessou, Kublaï Khan Investigations and the Spanish-born Blanca Li with her Macadam Macadam. Just as a reminder, the Avignon Festival also has invited Mathilde Monnier, as well as South American dance-theater groups and a mixed program of solos by renowned creators, including Kader Belarbi, étoile of the Paris Opera, coordinated by Karine Saporta. "Les Hivernales" (Festival Avignon Off), July 13-29 (times vary) Studio La Manutention, 4, rue Escalier Saint-Anne, Avignon, tel: 04.90.82.33.12. "Les Hivernales" (Festival Avignon In) July 9-31 (times vary), for festival info tel: 04.90.14.14.14. Festival de Confolens A fun-packed annual gathering of dance and music companies around the planet, from Russia and China to Ireland and Porto Rico, offering programs all day long of traditional and folklore companies, with plenty of opportunity for audience participation, and late-night partying. Festival de Confolens, Aug 8-16 (times and locations vary), tel: 05.45.84.00.77. |
|
