Preljocaj in New York

Angelin Preljocaj was born into a family of Albanian immigrants in 1957 and received a solid training as a dancer in France before taking part in a course with Merce Cunningham in New York in 1980. His themes of love, war and labour are perennial human themes enriched by his carefully observed details from everyday life with a dance vocabulary strongly oriented towards physicality and sensuality. His own company, Ballet Preljocaj, resides at the Pavillon Noir in Aix-en-Provence, a building entirely dedicated to dance with Angelin Preljocaj its artistic director. His company is touring worldwide and gives about one hundred performances per year. His ballets SPECTRAL EVIDENCE and LA STRAVAGANZA were both conceived for the New York City Ballet.

SPECTRAL EVIDENCE: From 2013 to music by John Cage is based on the Salem Witch Trials and a recording of vocal music by John Cage. It has four men in dark suits and clerical collars and four women in white dresses with different patches of red silicon.

LA STRAVAGANZA: From 1997 to music by Vivaldi, Evelyn Ficarra, Serge Morand, Robert Marmandeau and Åke Parmerud deals with Contemporary Culture meeting 17th century society. Dancing to Vivaldi and electronic music we experience a merger of fantasy and reality, a dialogue of the past with the present, the old world with the new world.