Voyage en Europe

Voyage en EuropeBaroque Ballet Performance in Four Acts
France of the Sun King
Drama in England
German Nostalgia
Carnival in Venice

La Compagnie L´Eventail – dance company (France)
Marie-Geneviève Massé – choreography
Olivier Bériot – costumes
Marie-Geneviève Massé and Jean-Marie Abplanalp – set design
Carlos Perez – ligting design
Collegium 1704 – baroque ensemble (Czech Republic)
Václav Luks – artistic director

Sunday 8 August 2010, 8.00 pm
Hybernia Theatre, Nám. Republiky, Prague 1

The final performance of the Summer Festivities took us back to the turn of the eighteenth century, with the swishing of dresses and creaking of the theatre floorboards at the House U Hybernů. The splendid French dancing troupe, La Compagnie l’Eventail, danced its way through baroque Europe. The choreography by Marie-Geneviève Massé took authentic step variations as its point of departure. The first pirouette was French, and was danced to the music of André Campra, the second was English, to the rhythms of Henry Purcell, the third was German, after a sonata by Johann Rosenmüller, whilst the final whirl was a commedie dell'arte masque, after Antonio Vivaldi. Over and above the beauty of the costumes and the originality of the choreography, the outstanding quality of the dancers themselves  made its mark. They presented this thrilling creation with incredible grace as well as powerful inner conviction.