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A slow-motion dance through the hedonistic ecstasy and darkness of a night-time teenage rave choreographed by French-Austrian artist Gisèle Vienne

Set to a soundtrack of dance tracks curated by DJ Peter Rehberg and Stephen O'Malley, and performed on a set strewn with earth, discarded clothes and plastic cups, Gisèle Vienne’s Crowd depicts the dark, dream-like revelry of a night-time teenage rave. 

As fifteen dancers enter one by one in trance-like slow motion, their steps dragging against the pull of the dance beats, our perceptions of the individuals, their characters and emotions, and the actions unfolding wordlessly before us are put into question. Do embraces and smiles signify affection or threat? Is what we witness a dance off or a fight?

The highly controlled stop-motion movements of the dancers capture freeze-framed vignettes resembling moments revealed under dance club strobe lights. Exaggerating the mood swings of the group, these scenes depict individual stories of ecstasy and isolation – developed in collaboration with American author and dramaturg Dennis Cooper – playing out within the fragmented collective carnival in hypnotically distorted time. 

An unflinching and haunting exploration of human nature, Crowd is a dark dance of longing and sensuality tinged with abandon. 

Crowd is presented as part of the 2023 Freespace Dance series showcasing the work of contemporary women choreographers. The production was staged at the Venice Biennale in 2018 and nominated at the 2020 Olivier Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Dance.

Note: A pre-show participatory physical introduction session (in Cantonese) introducing related choreographic concepts and movements is available on 6 May (7:00pm–7:30pm). This session is open to ticket holders only. Please register here.

Artistic Team:

Conception, Choreography and Scenography: Gisèle Vienne 

Assisted by: Anja Röttgerkamp and Nuria Guiu Sagarra 

Lighting: Patrick Riou

Dramaturgy: Gisèle Vienne and Dennis Cooper 

Music Selections from: Underground Resistance, KTL, Vapour Space, DJ Rolando, Drexciya, The Martian, Choice, Jeff Mills, Peter Rehberg, Manuel Göttsching, Sun Electric and Global Communication 

Edits, Playlist selection: Peter Rehberg

Sound Diffusion Supervisor: Stephen O’Malley 

Performers: Lucas Bassereau, Philip Berlin, Morgane Bonis, Sylvain Decloitre, Sophie Demeyer, Vincent Dupuy, Massimo Fusco, Rehin Hollant, Oskar Landström, Maeva Lassere, Theo Livesey, Maya Masse, Katia Petrowick, Linn Ragnarsson and Jonathan Schatz

Costumes: Gisèle Vienne in collaboration with Camille Queval and the performers

Co-presented by:
Freespace, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels and French May Arts Festival

Support:

CCN2 – Centre Chorégraphique National de Grenoble and CND Centre National de la Danse 

The Company Gisèle Vienne is supported by DRAC Grand Est, la Région Grand Est – Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication and Ville de Strasbourg. The company is supported by the Institut Français for international touring and by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels. 

Gisèle Vienne is an associated artist at Chaillot – Théâtre national de la danse, MC2 Grenoble, Le Volcan – Scène nationale du Havre and Théâtre National de Bretagne.