«  How does the Annunciation, that key moment which underpins a whole religion, resonate in us, what does it awaken? 

While so many painters over the past 2000  years have sought time and again to understand the flurry of  contradictory symbols, which in effect is what the Annunciation is, it  comes as something of a surprise that a theme, a subject in which so  many issues about the body are so manifestly implicated should have  reminded almost entirely absent from choreographic art. 

And yet, what we find here, deep down, is truly fascinating. 

In traditional iconography, Mary is often  shown in an enclosed or walled garden, symbolising her virginity. There  is, therefore, a parallel between what might be called her inner space  and her surroundings. 

When the angel breaks into this private world,  he is saying, in so many words, that the workings of her body are about  to be dramatically altered. This explains why it is that, although in  the Bible the Virgin displays a screen acceptance of the forthcoming  event, many artists have chosen to make her the prey of doubt, anxiety,  even rebelliousness. 

The strange co-existence of acceptance and  rebellion, the collision of space and time, tell us that at the very  moment the message is given, fertilisation takes place. We are, as it  were, inside biology, the very act of conception. 

This coming to life in gradual stages takes us  to the heart of the process of creating art; the message is no longer  an abstraction, it is reality. 

Rather than something finished, isn’t what we  call nowadays conceptual art the portent of a new art, the Annunciation  of an art yet to be born?  » 

Angelin Preljocaj (source: website of Ballet Preljocaj - http://www.preljocaj.org)

Born in 1957 in the Paris region, Angelin Preljocaj began studying classical dance before turning to contemporary dance with Karin Waehner, Zena Rommett, Merce Cunningham, then Viola Farber and Quentin Rouillier. He then joined Dominique Bagouet until he founded his own company in December 1984. Since then he has choreographed 60 pieces, ranging from solos to large-scale works, and regularly works with other artists in a variety of fields, including music (Goran Vejvoda, Air, Laurent Garnier, Granular Synthesis, Karlheinz Stockhausen), the visual arts (Claude Lévêque, Subodh Gupta, Adel Abdessemed), design (Constance Guisset), fashion (Jean Paul Gaultier, Azzedine Alaïa), drawing (Enki Bilal), literature (Pascal Quignard, Laurent Mauvignier) and animated film (Boris Labbé)...

His creations have been performed throughout the world and included in the repertoires of numerous companies, from which he has also received commissions, including the New York City Ballet, the Berlin Staatsoper and the Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris. He also makes short films and films featuring his choreography. He has received several awards including the ‘Grand Prix National de la danse’ (1992), the ‘Benois de la danse’ (1995), the ‘Bessie Award’ (1997), ‘Les Victoires de la musique’ (1997), the ‘Globe de Cristal’ (2009) and the ‘Samuel H. Scripps Award’ from the American Dance Festival for his body of work (2014). His first feature film, Polina, danser sa vie, directed with Valérie Müller and adapted from the comic strip by Bastien Vivès, was released in cinemas in November 2016.

In April 2019, he was appointed to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in the new choreography section. In the same year, he created Winterreise for La Scala in Milan, as well as Soul Kitchen with inmates from the Baumettes Prison Centre in Marseille, the results of four months of workshops held within the prison. The same year saw the release of the documentary Danser sa peine, directed by Valérie Müller, an intimate look at this creative process in a prison environment. The film won first prize at Fipadoc in 2020.

After Swan Lake in 2020 and Deleuze / Hendrix in 2021, he will choreograph and direct Lully's opera Atys for the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2022. At the same time, he devised a short choreography for the ‘Danse Europe!’ application, a participatory project open to all. For Dior, he created the choreography and film Roman Night with the dancers of the Rome Opera Ballet as part of International Dance Day. He also took part in the television series Irma Vep by Olivier Assayas, as an actor and choreographer.

In July 2022, he presented his creation Mythologies for the dancers of the Ballet Preljocaj and the Ballet de l'Opéra de Bordeaux to original orchestral music by Thomas Bangalter. In February 2023 he created Birthday Party for senior dancers at the Théâtre National de Chaillot, commissioned by Aterballetto, and Torpeur in June 2023 at the Festival Montpellier Danse. His latest creation, Requiem(s), saw the light of day in May 2024.

The Ballet Preljocaj now has 30 permanent dancers and performs an average of 120 dates a year throughout the world.

More information

preljocaj.org

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).