© Pino Pipitone
Concept : Frédéric FLAMAND
Choreography : Frédéric FLAMAND
Production design and costumes : Humberto and Fernando CAMPANACreation on December 14 & 15 2007 at Le Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg
as part of Luxembourg et Grande Région - Capitale Européenne de la Culture 2007.Production : Ballet National de Marseille
Coproduction : Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg as part of Luxembourg et Grande Région - Capitale Européenne de la Culture 2007 and the Brighton FestivaL
This show by choreographer Frédéric Flamand, with Humberto and Fernando Campana responsible for the set design and costumes, is freely inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a mythological Latin poem in fifteen books written in around 1 or 2 AD. This work – one of the most significant in the literature of ancient Rome – contains two hundred and forty-six fables more than 12,000 lines in length on metamorphoses relating to the transformation of gods or heroes into beasts, plants or rocks. They are arranged chronologically, starting with Chaos and ending with the coronation of Julius Caesar who is turned into a star. Ovid retains the myths that allow him to express his poetic talent to the full, through stories of tragic love affairs and dramatic or spectacular metamorphoses. His ambition with these tales was to write a story of the world and, at the same time, to show that there is no real difference between the mineral, vegetable, animal, human and even
divine kingdoms.
Expressive figures emerge from all these fables, and rightly remain
immortal. For his choreographic piece, Frédéric Flamand has chosen remarkable passages, echoing his interpretation on stage.