Maibaum

‘The latest of the choreographer's creations, Maibaum draws on this age-old pagan celebration which, from Bavaria to Provence, updates the primordial act of cosmic regeneration. The ‘May tree’, a sort of large totem pole symbolising both fertility and the forces of nature, is traditionally erected at the dawn of spring by a handful of villagers with a great deal of skill and ingenuity. With this piece by Jordi Galí, we rediscover the exhilarating flavour of this veritable test of strength, but its ambition and the majesty of the work accomplished remain beyond compare.’

Is your relationship with the body truly choreographic?

J. G. : It's a team of dancers, and it's the dancers' tools that I rely on as an author. The point of the work is to manage the gesture over time and as a whole. We show actions: pulling, carrying, getting off, which have to do with handling. They are cleaned up, written down, and we have a 50-page written framework. The framework is choreographic, but the result looks everyday.

A living installation
This choreographic installation further radicalises the breadth of his world of planks, boards, ropes and codes, and his fascination with the gestures of craftwork.

‘The poetics of place, the magic of the ephemeral, all work to anchor our dreams of utopian architecture, a dream world, an improbable topos’.