Après la pluie

Ulysses Dove created Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven in 1993, based on a composition by Arvo Pärt in overlapping canons that collapse into silence. The choreography transforms classical technical virtuosity into a refined, architectural style, radical in its restraint. Dove, who was a member of the Paris Opera's Choreographic Research Group, composed this work in response to the loss of loved ones during the AIDS crisis, an illness that would take his life three years later. This is the first presentation of the piece in France.

Petrichor, Pontus Lidberg's first work for the Ballet de l'Opéra de Nice, was created for the Miami City Ballet. The title refers to the scent of the earth after rain. Set to a concerto by Philip Glass, between structural minimalism and emotional lyricism, this lively ballet draws on classical technique while rejecting symmetry. The dancers, like birds of paradise, combine fluidity and precision to bring forth a world in rebirth.