Online programmaboek Blast a universe

"Sleepless is one of Jiří Kylián’s many pieces that as a student, I have learnt about in school, dreaming about dancing one day. Getting to know its world this season has expended my knowledge and imagination regarding how one can transform on stage and dive into this unknown for both them and the audience, not needing to be anything more than they are now, staying true to themselves and allowing the present moment to influence any next step.

The way I see the piece is an honest exploration of oneself. It makes me feel a lot, it has such an incredible intensity and sacredness. When I feel most is when I’m most connected to that moment, when a certain flow state and sharpness is reached. Aurélie gave us images and feelings to play with, such as existing in our bodies in the present moment on stage as being enough, though not knowing if you are really there, if you were there before, feeling traces of yourself and the ones who have been there before you, and having this desperation of what you’ll leave behind. What I love about the piece is that it is bigger than us, its dancers, and often times what I see watching my colleagues dancing is that there’s a certain moment when you stop recognizing if the dancers are dancing the piece or if something else is moving them. We are just there, humans on stage. The feelings it evokes inside are extremely spontaneous and genuine, and different every time. What I have learnt most in this process is that less is always more.

The rehearsal process has been a constant learning experience, maybe the most beautiful one I’ve witnessed. There are things that will forever stay with me: how two people can coexist in the same space, each having its own universe, though when meeting, they become one world, and every touch and partnering is full of truth, delicacy and gentleness. Both my partner, Joan, and I have transformed our perception on what’s possible and learnt to compromise and care about each other more than anything else, and the best answer to all our questions has always been…less. I’m grateful for learning from him and with him. There was something in the way that Aurélie has passed on her knowledge as the original cast of this piece that had such incredible humanity and pureness. We’ve not only learnt steps from her, but also so much on a human level, we shared emotions, frustrations and we found that the only thing that is needed is to be present there and then, embracing all those emotions and being us. She taught me that the stage isn’t a place where you must act all the time, you don’t need to always transform and put on a suit. It’s the place where you can be yourself, and where vulnerability becomes the biggest strength. I am eternally grateful for getting to experience this process and to all the knowledge that has been passed on, that opened the door into Jiří Kylián’s world, making us understand it better and being hungry for more, but also getting the honor of passing it forward. It is a legacy!

I really hope that the piece will make the audience curious, present and will be an opportunity to connect and share what often times is kept inside for too long."

"An exploration of contradictions; curiosity and avoidance, suspension and interruption, specificity and spontaneity. 

Within explicit parameters, Noé encouraged us to exercise creative autonomy with one another in the pursuit of research. As such, the foundations of this work were driven by a response to external forces, both seen and unseen. 

The central question that arose in the process was whether that force could produce the same result more than once… in unison, or even individually. The dichotomy of freedom and precision within the material provoked an incredibly inquisitive and collaborative studio atmosphere; I find that the piece is a direct reflection of this investigation. The stage acts as an ever-evolving playground, where even the slightest impulsivity and shift in relationships build momentum. The intentional nuance that Noé constructed keeps Shut your Eyes and See constantly alive, adapting alongside its dancers."

"Working on The Big Crying by Marco Goecke has been a deeply moving experience for me. It's a work that shakes my heart in many ways.

To me, this piece speaks about something some of us have experienced or will eventually experience, in life: the loss of someone we love. It takes us through the many layers of grief, through the unpredictable waves of emotions that come with losing someone and learning to live with their absence. Grief is never just sadness. It’s a roller coaster of denial, confusion, anger, and inner conflict but also, eventually, the discovery of moments of light and joy as life slowly opens the door to a new chapter.

This piece brings so many emotions to the surface that, at times, words no longer feel like enough. It makes me think about the final goodbye. If you could see someone for one last time, how would you touch them? What would you say? What would you want them to know? Sometimes, it’s the smallest gestures, the things left unsaid, and the memories we carry that become the most meaningful.

Working on this piece has reopened old wounds and brought me face to face with parts of myself that still hold pain. Yet, through this process, I have also found joy, comfort, and a sense of healing. It has allowed me to revisit memories, to feel them again, and to hold them with a different kind of tenderness. There is something beautiful about being able to transform pain into movement, to give shape to what cannot be expressed through words and to discover that even within grief, there can still be moments of light.

I don’t know where this journey will take me, or what this piece will continue to reveal. But I am grateful to be part of it, and I look forward to sharing it with my colleagues and our audience."