Exploring the supernatural power of art, Ballet Preljocaj brings La Fresque (The Painting on the Wall) to the Northrop stage on Sat, Mar 30. Here are some insights to the performance and the company.
See a preview of La Fresque (The Painting on the Wall).
Choreographer Angelin Preljocaj was inspired by a medieval Chinese tale when he created La Fresque (The Painting on the Wall). The story has been compared with Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Preljocaj commissioned Nicolas Godin, best known as co-founder of the influential French duo Air, to compose the score. The electro-fusion result has been called “hotly contemporary,” with downtempo electronica mixed into overt blends of urban noise.
La Fresque is Constance Guisset’s third stage design for a Preljocaj ballet. The heroine's hairstyle is an important element of the plot, and Guisset’s impressive projections variously suggest human hair, swirling mists, ghosts, landscapes, and the Milky Way. Azzedine Alaïa is the costume designer.
Angelin Preljocaj founded Ballet Preljocaj in 1984. His 52 choreographic works—ranging from solos to large ballets for companies such as the Paris Opera Ballet and New York City Ballet—are “intensely physical, formally complex pieces that often invoke narrative without making it explicit."
Ballet Preljocaj is based in Aix-en-Provence, France. They make their home at Pavillon Noir, a center for dance created especially for them in 2006 by architect Rudy Ricciotti.
