A century ago, dance marathons were successful events. some of them lasted weeks, and the writer Horace McCoy left a striking record of the experience in his novel They Shoot Horses, Don’t They, later made into a film directed by Sydney Pollack. The adaptation by the Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin and the Compagnie des Petits Champs brings the period of the Great Depression to the contemporary world in crisis, following the tragic plight of Gloria and Robert, dancers and actors acting and dancing as if on the edge of a volcano. Bruno Bouché had success with Wings of Desire, an original work freely adapted from the Wim Wenders film, and is now building up repertoire for 21st century ballet, venturing into new domains of drama. Together with Clément Hervieu-Léger and Daniel San Pedro, he is bringing new life to dance-theater and in an original form challenging, judiciously, the role of the audience.

Thomas Hahn