sports
Empreintes review
Palais Garnier, Paris Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple’s Arena spills off the stage while Morau’s equally audacious Étude has balletic body snatchers
TL;DR
- Arena by Jess and Morgs utilizes live camerawork and choreography within the Palais Garnier.
- The piece explores themes of online culture, competition, comparison, and conformity.
- Loup Marcault-Derouard's character experiences a world unraveling, featuring frenzied solos and isolation.
- Arena turns the relationship between performer and camera operator into a compelling duet.
- Marcos Morau's Étude probes notions of making one's mark in an 'Identikit society'.
- Morau's choreography uses uniformity to create uncanniness rather than beauty.
- Étude reflects on the glitziness of the final product and questions the audience's thrall to ballet's splendor.
- Both Arena and Étude make full use of the deep stage and acknowledge the surrounding building.