Qatar, 2022
Festival in Motion celebrates dance, music, art, and architecture. Set at the heart of the World Cup festivities in Qatar, each project draws inspiration from the public spaces and heritage sites of Qatar to pair international artists for global collaborations. The Festival uses media and technology to expand the live experience of the festival to gain a global audience. All performances will be filmed and shared online to reach the widest possible audience. The festival focuses on the world’s original technology which binds us all: the human body in motion. In combining art, architecture, music and dance with international, multicultural collaborations, we will create a portrait of our global moment and the future of movement.
Festival Artistic Direction \ Benjamin Millepied & Nico Muhly
Choreographers \ Dimitri Chamblas, Brigel Gjoka & Rauf “RubberLegz” Yasit, Madeline Hollander, Jill Johnson, Benjamin Millepied, Laura Nala and Miel Bouchra Ouizgen, Mythili Prakash, Salia Sanou, Bobbi Jene Smith, Janie Taylor, Saburo Teshigawara (bolded choreographers choreographed new work on LADP dancers)
Composers \ Kim Gordon, Celia Hollander, Nico Muhly, David Poe
Companies \ L.A. Dance Project, Compagnie O, Mazelfreten, Mythili Prakash & performers
Filmmakers \ Olivier Simola, Sebastien Marcovici
ANTHEM
Premiere
National Museum of Qatar: Rose des Sables,Doha, Qatar
Choreography
Janie Taylor
Music
Nico Muhly
18 Dancers
DEVOTION
Premiere
December 5th, 2022 at the Park Dhow Boats in Doha, Qatar.
Choreography
Madeline Hollander
Music
Celia Hollander
18 Dancers
EAST WEST WEST EAST
Premiere
December 19th, 2022 at the East/West in Doha, Qatar
Choreography
Benjamin Millepied
Music
Nico Muhly
FLY ME TO THE EARTH
Premiere
December 12th, 2022 at the Brazan Towers in Doha, Qatar
Choreography
Saburo Teshigawara
3 Dancers
LA RÉCRÉATION
Premiere
December 5th, 2022 at the Western Courtyard in Doha, Qatar
Choreography
Salia Sanou
18 Dancers
QUARTET FOR TWELVE
Premiere
December 13th, 2022 at Al Wakrah Pier in Doha, Qatar
Choreography
Bobbi Jene Smith
Music
String Quartet No. 5 by Philip Glass
Costume Design
Victoria Bek
Length
28 minutes
12 Dancers
Original Cast
Daisy Jacobson, Courtney Conovan, Daphne Fernberger, Nayomi Van Brunt,
Jessy Crist, David Adrian Freeland Jr., Lorin Brubaker, Jeremy Coachman,
Mario Gonzalez, Shu Kinouchi, Peter Mazurowski, Leo Hishikawa
WAKE
Premiere
December 13th, 2022 at the Western Courtyard in Doha, Qatar
Choreography
Jill Johnson
Music
Paul Poe
6 Dancers
Original Cast
Daisy Jacobson, Nayomi Van Brunt, Daphne Ferberger, Jeremy Coachman,
Doug Baum, Shu Kinouchi
WATER AND POWER
Premiere
December 12th, 2022 at the Post Office in Doha, Qatar
Choreography
Dimitri Chamblas
16 Dancers
Festival in Motion
2021
A work by Jermaine Spivey & Spenser Theberge in collaboration with the dancers
Original Score | Maxwell Transue
Sound Designer | Gahyae Ryu
Cinematography | Trevor Tweeten
Costumes | 69
Cast | Nayomi Van Brunt, Yusha-Marie Sorzano, David Adrian Freeland Jr., Mario Gonzalez
Film: The Betweens
2020
Choreography | Bobbi Jene Smith with Or Schraiber
Music & Sound Design | Alex Somers
Cinematography | Trevor Tweeten
Costumes | COS
Mask Design + Production | Janie Taylor
Dancers | Doug Baum, Lorrin Brubaker, Anothny Lee Bryant, Daisy Jacobson, Shu Kinouchi, Vinicius Silva, Janie Taylor
Film: Solo at Dusk
L.A. Dance Project + Van Cleef & Arpels present
Benjamin Millepied’s Romeo & Juliet Suite
In his new worldwide production, Benjamin Millepied offers a contemporary vision of Prokofiev’s masterpiece Romeo & Juliet.
The choreographer navigates between cinema, dance and theatre, reinterpreting Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers as young adults in an urban environment where social norms prevent them from living their love story. On stage and off, the plot unfolds thanks to a unique projection system. Certain tableaux are broadcast in real time from unexpected places inside the theatre and backstage. The dancers, filmed live, pass from stage to screen.
Each performance features a different cast, highlighting diverse couples – male/female, male/male, female/female – making this version of Romeo & Juliet a universal celebration of love. Benjamin Millepied thus presents the mythical tale through a modern and original prism, further embellished by Prokofiev’s music. “I love the idea of using dance, live performance and cinematographic images to express a timeless story that really speaks to the audience.
This production creates a comprehensive artistic experience while echoing current social issues, all with a cast that changes night by night.” Benjamin Millepied.
L.A. Dance Project + Van Cleef & Arpels
Building on over 100 years of history
The unique partnership between Benjamin Millepied and Van Cleef & Arpels began in 2012 with the creation of Millepied’s contemporary ballet trilogy, Gems.
The first chapter, Reflections premiered in 2013, featuring music specially composed by David Lang, as well as a set design and costumes created by American artist Barbara Kruger.
The second chapter, Hearts & Arrows, was released in 2014, with music composed by Philip Glass and Liam Gillick as Visual Concept Artist.
In 2016, Benjamin Millepied created the final opus in the trilogy with On the Other Side, once again set to music by Philip Glass and featuring costumes and set design by Alessandro Sartori and American artist Mark Bradford, respectively.
The success of Gems led to other collaborations, including Marfa Dance Episodes in 2017, a remarkable four-part site-specific dance and film series conceived and performed in response to the Chinati Foundation’s permanent collection in Marfa, Texas. The series premiered both as an on-site and online event, garnering over 550,000 live views.
In 2021, in the midst of the global pandemic, Van Cleef & Arpels supported an unprecedented six week residency during lock down with artists Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, that led to the creation of Solo at Dusk, a moving artistic exploration and expression of life during the pandemic. Solo at Dusk premiered as a drive-in dance experience in the space surrounding L.A. Dance Project’s DTLA studio, and later as a digital PPV.
Since its founding in 1906, Van Cleef & Arpels
has forged close ties with the world of dance
In 1967, an artistic kinship between Claude Arpels and George Balanchine gave birth to Jewels; in 2012 a collaboration between Nicolas Bos and Benjamin Millepied led to the creation of Gems, Millepied’s contemporary ballet trilogy.
Nicolas Bos and Benjamin Millepied met in 2012, as Millepied was founding L.A. Dance Project, and shared an artistic affinity that has led to a decade long partnership between the choreographer and the High Jewelry Maison. Inspired by their mutual passion for extraordinary craftsmanship and skill in the arts, these bonds have seen the creation of both dance works and jewelry collections. To mark the creation of Millepied’s Romeo & Juliet Suite, premiering in Paris in September 2022, Van Cleef & Arpels released the Romeo & Juliet High Jewelry collection in 2019, in which the fate of the star-crossed lovers plays out in precious stones.
“When Benjamin Millepied – whose work we have supported for the past several years – told us that he was working on a contemporary adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, it struck me as a remarkable creative opportunity. Shakespeare’s masterpiece acts as the starting point for a new thematic collection, but also for a dialogue between disciplines involving High Jewelry, dance, music and the visual arts.” – Nicolas Bos
In 2021, L.A. Dance Project paid homage to Nicolas Bos in recognition of his friendship, commitment, and dedication to the art of dance, at their annual Gala. During the performance portion of the evening, Millepied surprised Bos with the premiere of Pillar V, a new work choreographed as a gift to his friend and artistic partner.
Since 2021, the L.A. Dance Project has been supported by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, the Maison’s new initiative towards contemporary dance.
