LE PARC

Angelin Preljocaj created Le Parc in 1994 for the Paris Opera Ballet, starring Isabelle Guérin and Laurent Hilaire. The choreography plays with elements from both classical and contemporary ballet, which demands extreme precision from the dancers. With these means, Angelin Preljocaj takes a contemporary look at the highly stylised traditions and rules for love and life at the European courts of the 17th and 18th centuries. 

As the action unfolds, a play develops between allure and devotion, between budding and disappointed loves, between fleeting yet long-lasting encounters. The tone for these amorous entanglements is set by various orchestral works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as well as the noise and soundscapes created by Goran Vejvoda especially for Le Parc. Thierry Leproust's stage design is inspired by classical parks in France and creates an ambiguous space for the mystery of love. Within it, costume designer Hervé Pierre sets a fascinating play of materials in motion. He dresses the ensemble in rococo fashion and uses the tense contrast between courtly dress code and bourgeois rule-breaking. The main couple grows closer and closer over the three acts of the ballet and finally comes together in the last pas de deux, which has become known as the "flying kiss".