On May 21 and 22, the Ballet National de Marseille hosted two evenings showcasing the projects developed this season as part of Variations, its arts and cultural education program.

For several years, Variations has enabled young people to discover contemporary dance through encounters with artists and works, as well as through hands-on experiences of practice and collective creation. Throughout the year, participants are invited to explore movement as a language, a space for expression, and a tool for building community.

The first evening, organized in partnership with the Académie d’Aix-Marseille, brought together students from the Lycée Nelson Mandela and Lycée Leau around a project inspired by the challenges of an increasingly digitalized world, echoing Age of Content by the Ballet National de Marseille under the direction of (LA)HORDE.

Guided by artists Andrés Garcia Martinez and Francisca Crisóstomo López, the students explored, through movement, the relationships between bodies, screens, emotions, and collective experience. The performances reflected many hours of workshops centered on gesture as a language and as a space for shared experience.

The evening also featured the work of the dance program at Lycée Périer. Guided by Andrew Graham, the students explored choreographic transmission and composition, drawing inspiration from Trisha Brown. Distinct from the Variations program, this project was also presented on May 23 at the Musée d'Art Contemporain de Marseille during the European Night of Museums, featuring the reactivation of works by Franz Erhard Walther.

The May 22 showcase was part of a project that, this season, expanded to include new social and educational organizations, reflecting a commitment to inclusion, diverse life paths, and accessibility to artistic practices. It brought together students from the bridge class at Collège Edgar Quinet, as well as participants supported by SINGA and Le GR1.

The first artistic proposal stemmed from the work led by Marina Gomes, alongside Elias Ardoin and Nabjibe Said, around her creation Nidāl [Inside–Outside]. Inspired by notions of struggle, resistance, and self-transcendence, the project enabled the young participants to explore tools drawn from hip-hop and stunt work, through an approach grounded in listening and respect for each individual’s rhythm.

The second presentation was led by choreographer Sandrine Lescourant of the Compagnie Kilaï, together with artist Biro Soumare. Drawing on the world of her work Blossom, the workshops explored encounter, voice, the pleasure of movement, and the creation of a collective space of freedom, solidarity, and sharing.

Through these two evenings, the showcases highlighted the richness of the encounters between artists, young participants, educational and social teams, as well as the diversity of choreographic approaches developed throughout the year.

The Ballet National de Marseille warmly thanks all the artists, partners, and teams involved: the Académie d’Aix-Marseille, Collège Edgar Quinet, Protection Judiciaire de la Jeunesse (PJJ), SINGA, Le GR1, the educational and support teams, as well as the cultural partners Le ZEF and KLAP Maison pour la danse. Special thanks also to Caisse des Dépôts, the project’s principal patron.