PROGRAMME
Anyone attending a concert of Madonna’s Madame X Tour or the subsequent Celebration Tour had an encounter with Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet, too, in a manner of speaking. Because the artist, one of the world’s most sought-after in his field, co-created the dances for both mega events. He also developed choreographies for Luca Guadagnino’s film Suspiria (2018) and Jacques Audiard’s Oscar-winning musical thriller Emilia Pérez (2024). Last year, ImPulsTanz showed the film version of DuEls, Jalet’s collaboration with Erna Ómarsdóttir, at Film Museum.
In the current edition of the festival, Jalet presents his brand-new programme Thrice on the stage of Volkstheater, comprising three pieces: Médusés, which consists of the two pieces Les Médusés and Trio, premiered at the Louvre in Paris in 2013 and was part of DuEls. Brise-lames (“breakwater”) was originally a production of the Paris Opèra Garnier ballet company, and the third piece Gusts, a collaboration with star saxophonist Bendik Giske (live on stage on the opening night!), is Damien Jalet’s most recent work. For Thrice, he has joined forces with the Norwegian dance company Nagelhus Schia Productions.
With the support of the Institut français à Paris and the Institut français d’Autriche.
Gusts
Choreography: Damien Jalet
Rehearsal direction: Astrid Sweeney
Performance: Even Eileraas, Christina Guieb and Aimillios Arapoglou
Lighting design: Jan Maertens
Composition and live music: Bendik Giske (live music on 28 July only)
Costume design: Craig Green
Set design: Jim Hodges and Carlos Marques da Cruz
Médusés
Choreography: Damien Jalet
Performance: Vebjørn Sundby, Guro Nagelhus Schia, Christina Guieb, Karima El Amrani, Shintaro Oue and Leo Merrien
Lighting design: Jan Maertens
Costume design: Line Maher and Bernhard Willhelm
Set design: Jim Hodges and Carlos Marques da Cruz
Music: Winter Family
Rhythmic composition: Gabriele Miracle
Brise-lames
Choreography: Damien Jalet
Associate choreographer: Aimilios Arapoglou
Performance: Guro Nagelhus Schia, Christina Guieb, Karima El Amrani, Nora Svendsgaard
Vebjørn Sundby, Shintaro Oue, Aimilios Arapoglou, Even Eileraas and Leo Merrien
Image, set design and costume design: JR
Live music and original composition: Koki Nakano
Additional track by: Olafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm
Lighting design: Fabiana Piccioli
Associate lighting designer: Sander Loonen
A production from the Paris National Opera (FR).
Nagelhus Schia Productions
Artistic direction: Guro Nagelhus Schia
Assisting artistic direction: Vebjørn Sundby
Rehearsal direction: Kristin Hjort Inao
Production: Tara Ishizuka Hassel
Sound technician: Terje Wessel Øverland
Lighting technicians: Jan Harald Ovrum and Daniel Jones
Stage management: Tomasz Jerzy Kujawski and Atila Habibzadeh
Assistant to Damien Jalet: Jamila Hessaïne
Rehearsal direction/assistant to Damien Jalet: Astrid Sweeney
Produced by Nagelhus Schia Productions.