Premiere New York Premiere
Country of Origin France
Description Since 1984, Lyon Opera Ballet has stood apart as a choreographic venue of choice for A-listers from the international ballet and modern dance worlds. William Forsythe, Jirí Kylián, Maguy Marin, Angelin Preljocaj, Ralph Lemon, Susan Marshall, Nacho Duato, Trisha Brown, Stephen Petronio, and Bill T. Jones have all left their marks.
This spring the 31-member company returns to BAM with a full-evening work of dance, acrobatics, and otherworldly visual effects masterminded by Philippe Decouflé (whose Shazam! delighted BAM audiences in 2001), the latest choreographer to enter its illustrious lineup. An artistic visionary known worldwide for his work in music video (New Order’s “True Faith”) and contributions to the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Winter Olympics, Decouflé counts among multiple influences the sleight-of-body genius of Marcel Marceau, Pina Bausch’s savvy physicality, and the prescient psychedelia of dance visionary Alwin Nikolais.
These influences, among others, come to the fore in Tricodex, the final installment in a series of works inspired by Italian visual artist Luigi Serafini’s Codex Seraphinianus, a mythic encyclopedia teeming with unearthly creatures and plants, fantastical machines and invented formulae, and an indecipherable but gorgeous script. What better fodder for a choreographer fueled by the unpredictable workings of the imagination? And who better to bring it to life than the superb dancers of Lyon Opera Ballet.
Identifier 2004s.00791
