Sidi Larbi Cherkaui: UKIYO-E

Resilience, to exalt the scars left behind by the injury of the fall or the dizziness of the height. This is the theme of Ukiyo-e, world creation of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, at the head of the Ballet du Grand Théâtre for its 22-23 season opener. For Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, resilience finds its source in deep meditation. Ukiyo-e, his short story piece is named after the “images of the floating world”, the famous artistic movement that appeared in Japan in the Edo period, in the half-worlds of urban hedonism. The piece activates work on balance in the face of impermanence. Beyond dualities, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui suggests considering bodies that do not do not end with the fracture and the limit but rather to exalt the latter as increases of our person, like the Japanese technique kintsugi which repairs broken porcelain joints of pure gold. 
Amidst a maze of staircases, 22 dancers search for possible paths and are swept towards great depths or great heights. This collective adventure poses the question: what do we do when everything collapses? What do we do when everything around us falls apart? How do we continue to live in an uncertain world? If the question is posed in the singular, each will find his own individual answer. So, Ukiyo-e invites us to consider the collective answer. Inspired by this Japanese pictorial movement, which translates as an “image of the floating world”, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui has composed a profound reflection on resilience for 22 performers of the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève. On stage, enormous labyrinthine mobile structures form a network of impossible staircases.

Alexander Dodge's set will feature a network of impossible stairs in which the dancers get lost. These mobile labyrinthine structures aim to evoke ascension as well as the abyss. It is in this series of levels, potentially enabling or incapacitating, that the bodies are called on to unite, dialogue with and contaminate each other. The music accompaniment consists of compositions by Szymon Brzóska for string trio and piano, as well as percussive rhythmic creations and electronics by Alexandre Dai Castaing. Reunited in Ukiyo-e, these universes resonate with the quest for repair and transcendence.

Confronted with obstacles and unstable surfaces, the group loses its way, looks for possible ways out and is drawn towards the depths or soars to great heights. Helping them or hindering them are electronic melodies and the power of a string trio. This internationally renowned and insatiable choreographer, and the new director of this brilliant choreographic ensemble from Switzerland turns every creation into an occasion that is as at once artistic and philosophical.

Grand Théâtre de Geneve 
In 1962, the Grand Théâtre de Genève acquired a permanent ballet company, made up of 22 artists, offering two original choreographic creations per season. Collaborating with choreographers of international renown, over the course of its performances, it has built a worldwide reputation for itself. Today, whilst the premieres are always held in Geneva, the Geneva Ballet frequently performs outside Switzerland (France, Italy, United States, Russia, Australia, China, Brazil, South Africa…). From the 22–23 Season, the Ballet is under the management of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. 

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui 
is a globally celebrated figure like few others in dance today: a brilliant auteur-choreographer, with roughly a hundred shows under his belt, touring all around the planet, and former artistic director of the Royal Ballet of Flanders (2015-22). The Belgian-Moroccan’s choreographic oeuvre overflows with memorable productions, some of which originated in Geneva (Loin, 2005) and others on great stages and video sets all over the world (Puz/zle at the Avignon Festival in 2012, to name but one). For Marina Abramović’s maiden voyage as scenographer, and with Damien Jalet as co-creator, Cherkaoui’s whirling, shadowy and darkly mechanical interpretation of Ravel’s Bolero for the Paris Opera Ballet was a sensation at the Palais Garnier in 2013 and remains one of his most iconic pieces. The trio reformed for Pelléas et Mélisande in 2018 at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen; a production which was reprised and live streamed in Geneva. From dancer colleagues to creative partners, Cherkaoui and Jalet form a unique artistic bond: it is only logical that Damien Jalet should join Cherkaoui and the Geneva Ballet as an associate artist.