An intense roller coaster of emotions of fifteen dancers

An invitation to a psychedelic and dreamy party led by fifteen dancer: a work that concentrates vast spectrum of human instincts that Gisèle Vienne has dissected for years

Crowd, by Gisèle Vienne, a piece for fifteen dancers, muscles its way into a body of work which, over the course of several years, has been dissecting the vast spectrum of our fantasies, emotions, and dark sides, in addition to our inherent need for violence and our sensuality. Flying in the face of the different artistic disciplines, the journey she takes us on renders the onstage experience a cathartic one indeed. Behind their technical and formal perfection, Gisèle Vienne’s unclassifiable pieces are often perceived as being “unsettling” or “disturbing”. Since Showroomdummies (2001), they been unrelenting in their enquiry into the eternal duality at the core of our humanity – Eros and Thanatos, Apollo and Dionysus – the necessary thirst for violence and sensuality that each of us carries within us, and the place of the erotic and the sacred in our lives. Crowd is a new phase in this single-minded research. Centering on a choreography devised for fifteen performers brought together over the course of a party, this broad reaching polyphony brings to light (of a dark, blinding nature) the various mechanisms underlying such manifestations of collective euphoria, and “the way a specific community handles or otherwise the expression of violence”.

For several years Gisèle Vienne has been investigating the vast spectrum of our fantasies and emotions, our dark side, our need for violence and sensuality, giving back to the stage all of its cathartic power. Crowd is a new step in this constant research. Choreography conceived for fifteen performers gathered together for the duration of a party, their polyphony brings to light all the mechanisms that underlie such manifestations of collective euphoria. A universe where jerky gestures borrow as much from urban dance as from puppet theatre, the music was selected and mixed with songs with important meanings in the electronic music history. Within this circumstance psychedelic and dreamy atmosphere is made. The audience has thrilling experience of riding along on the dancers' intense roller coaster of emotions. Crowd is the site of a dialogue with what is most intimate to us.