We have seen Relative calm

A few days after its run at the Grande Halle de La Villette as part of the Chaillot, Théâtre National de la Danse program, Relative Calm came to Le Parvis in Tarbes for two performances on Thursday and Friday. Perhaps we should speak of a landing, as this piece defies what might seem like the normality of a choreography. Its origins lie in its 1981 creation by two giants of the stage: Robert Wilson, who directed choreographer Lucinda Childs, and a few years after the creation of Einstein on the Beach. Its history is intertwined with that of a piece that marked its era, haunted our memories, and is reborn 50 years later to revisit us. It is also the sheer force it evokes on stage. And that is precisely what happened on the Parvis stage with a dazzlingly modern performance, without questioning whether this modernity stems from the original piece or from its rebirth with Lucinda Childs returning to Le Parvis. It begins with a dozen dancers from the MP3 Dance Project who, with large, sharp, angular movements, unfold to the frenetic music of Jon Gibson, their gestures all rounded and steeped in classical dance. The performance then takes us from Igor Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite, which draws its roots from traditional dance culture and projects them into contemporary dance, culminating in a whirlwind of a finale set to the music of John Adams. And a final bow around Lucinda Childs.