The Great Chevalier and The Pigeon Dance

The famous National Folkloric Ballet of Luxembourg returns to KLAP Maison pour la danse to mark the 50th anniversary of The Pigeon Dance. The famous National Folkloric Ballet of Luxembourg returns to KLAP Maison pour la danse to mark the 50th anniversary of The Pigeon Dance, the legendary ballet by Josiane Bal, the company’s former director, inspired by the iconic folk dance of the same name. This original dance remains at the heart of the indelible bond between KLAP and the National Ballet. The evening celebrates this unique lineage in two parts. In the first part, Mr. Chevalier, the enfant terrible of contemporary folk dance and the BNFL’s new artistic director, returns to this historic stage himself to pay tribute to the famous Pigeon Dance that inspired this legendary ballet, and to the powerful ties between KLAP and the Ballet. In a rare, intimate and emotionally intense performance, the ambitious director and choreographer brings several emblematic classics from the repertoire to life. This exceptional encounter is followed by a signing session with Mr. Chevalier. The ballet itself is presented in the second part. Created in 1976 by Josiane Bal while she was directing the National Folkloric Ballet of Luxembourg, The Pigeon Dance was an operatic ballet centered on the fantasies of a pigeon dreaming of being crushed by a goat. Josiane Bal’s legacy remains inseparable from the tragic circumstances of her death during the premiere, after which the ballet was lost and survived only through disputed memories. Today, on the 50th anniversary of The Pigeon Dance and in commemoration of Madame Bal’s death, Simone Mousset, the company’s executive director, returns to the stage to embody a personal and intimate version of this lost jewel of Luxembourg folklore. Set to a new score by French composer Nosfell, The Pigeon Dance returns as a feminist relic of Luxembourg folklore, resonating through generations of women artists whose creative stories have been restricted, distorted or left unfinished.