Blanca Li

Created for 8 dancers at the Biennale de Lyon, on September 1998
Recreated in a version for 24 dancers at the Komische Oper of Berlin in 2002.
This spectacle has been recreated in May 2008 for the Opéra de Toulon-Provence-Méditerranée. It will be played again in this theater in december 2009.

Direction and choreography: Blanca Li
Music: Stelio Vlavianos, Erik Satie, Charles Koechlin, Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel, Micheal Daughterty.
Lights: Nicolas Salvatori

Co-production: Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, Maison des Arts in Créteil, Moulin du Roc in Niort, with the help of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.

«I started on the idea of a pure choreographic piece, putting the emphasis on the beauty of nearly naked bodies. I was naturally guided in my inspiration by Greek statuary. While looking for images and movements, I found myths, heroes, an inhibited approach of nature and sex, philosophy, humor, and above all, aesthetics, the sense of beauty underneath all creation. Then I wove different themes, the Minotaur and the animal rituals from Crete, Narcissus, Pygmalion, the Amazons, Athena, figures from Greek temples and ceramics, Dyonisos festivities, love, war, the Olympic birth of sports. For the ambiance, I recalled my childhood memories of Mediterranean landscapes, the blinding midday light, the sound of crickets and wind in pinetrees. The show will be interpreted by 12 dancers. The white colour has been chosen for costumes and set, owing to its purity and elegance. For music, I found in some classical and modern composers’ work the Hellenic inspiration that has also inspired so many contemporary talents (Satie, Debussy, Fauré, Ravel, Kœchlin, Ted Shawn, Nijinsky, Martha Graham, etc…)» Blanca Li