Created in 2022 by the Ballet National de Marseille, Search Engine is a space for creation, experimentation, and free practice, developed in collaboration with an artist, an association, or a cultural organization. For this fourth edition, the Ballet National de Marseille has given carte blanche to Théo Mercier, its associate artist for the next two years.

A visual artist and stage director with a multifaceted practice, he works at the crossroads of visual arts and the performing arts.

Reflecting his philosophy of plasticity, which blurs the boundaries between artistic disciplines, Théo Mercier brought together Danse Musique Rhône-Alpes, Ha Kyoon Larcher, Vimala Pons, Laura Vazquez, and Rebeka Warrior—five artists and close friends—to create, in just 24 hours, a unique hybrid work centered on friendship.

“FLESH TO FLESH” is the title of this challenge: to open up a space for a vast conversation between kindred materials. The guiding principle is that each artist brings texts, music, choreographies, films, and existing projects, only to dismantle, mix, and recombine them in order to hear what these ruins have to tell us about ourselves.

If friendship were a thing tonight, it might resemble an exquisite corpse, a portrait of Frankenstein, a jukebox, or a Pandora’s box. Some finish each other’s sentences; others interrupt, raise their voices, share their thoughts, listen to the silence, change the subject—and the hours pass that way.

At times telepathic and at times empathetic, polyphonic or cacophonous, FLESH TO FLESH is also a reflection of the obsessions, hopes, and ghosts of a group of friends searching for a home within their voices—a group of artists who, for one evening, listen to, observe, and transform their world.

Moteur de Recherche #4 “Flesh To Flesh”

Friday, April 3, 2026, at the Ballet National de Marseille

Continuous performance from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

DJ Set of Zoë Mc Pherson from 10:00 PM

Food and drinks served throughout the evening by Ivresse la Cave – Patio

(Sold out event)