Announcing ‘Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival’ 2025 in London
In 2022, London inaugurated a new chapter in Van Cleef & Arpels long-standing ties to the world of choreography by hosting the first edition of Dance Reflections. Over nearly three weeks, 17 shows — both recent works and from the contemporary dance repertoire — as well as artist forums and film screenings offered the public a panorama of dance spanning from the 1970s to the present day.
Catherine Renier, President & CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, says:
We are proud to observe Dance Reflections’ international expansion ever since. Collaborations with prestigious partners, contributions to major choreographic events, support for emerging and touring artists… These various commitments, in keeping with the values of creation, transmission and education dear to the Maison, all meet the same objective of celebrating contemporary choreographic art.
The Festival has since been staged around the world: in Hong Kong (May 2023); in New York (October – December 2023); and, most recently, in Kyoto and Saitama (October – November 2024).
London initiated a conversation between dance and jewellery, exploring the ways in which these arts represent movement. Alongside the choreographic performances, The Art of Movement exhibition at the Design Museum (September 23 – October 20, 2022) unveiled pieces from the company’s patrimonial collection, including jewellery clips depicting feminine figures performing leaps and entrechats.
Reiner continues:
The second Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival in London is, in turn, an opportunity to explore new aspects of our heritage. Present in the British capital since the 1930s, the Maison has enhanced there its bonds with dance through several events. In 2007, we supported the Royal Ballet and Opera for the performance of Jewels, the first ever abstract ballet, which was then celebrating its 40th anniversary. This work by George Balanchine is particularly precious to us, as its creation likely resulted from the late-1940s meeting between its famous author and Claude Arpels.
Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels London 2025 is a four-week celebration (from 12 March to 8 April) taking place at four partner organisations: Sadler’s Wells, The Royal Ballet and Opera, Tate Modern and, new this time, the Southbank Centre.
There will be 10 premieres, 15 productions, 38 performances and more than 350 dancers will take part. Names include Trisha Brown Dance Company; Christian Rizzo; Jules Cunningham; Pam Tanowitz; Shu Lea Cheang and Dondon Hounwn; (LA)HORDE with the Ballet National de Marseille; Ioannis Mandafounis with Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company; Georges Labbat; and Robyn Orlin.
This edition will feature recent as well as repertory works, dance workshops, artist forums and awareness- raising initiatives, all highlighting the links between choreographic heritage and contemporary creation.
A number of works embody this approach, including Working Title (1985) by Trisha Brown, presented alongside In the Fall (2023), a piece from Noé Soulier commissioned by the company. Beach Birds and BIPED, major works by Merce Cunningham reinterpreted by the Lyon Opera Ballet, also showcase the recent history of dance. With Giselle…, François Gremaud revisits a fundamental romantic work of the classical repertoire: Giselle (1841).
This approach is enriched by contemporary choreographers’ development of new languages with many influences. While Age of Content by (LA)HORDE – Ballet national de Marseille draws on action films, musicals and the video game universe, Sakinan göze çöp batar by Christian Rizzo is inspired by a traditional Turkish dance. At Tate Modern, Shu Lea Cheang and Dondon Hounwn are staging Hagay Dreaming, a visual and performance piece combining tribal legends from Taiwan’s indigenous Truku culture with science fiction. Robyn Orlin pays tribute to the Zulu rickshaws of her childhood in We wear our wheels with pride… Finally, for his last piece, Close Up, Noé Soulier creates a space of intimacy with dance through the use of video.
Ioannis Mandafounis, the new Director of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, brings together on stage students of London’s Rambert School and professional dancers. With Outsider, The Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève joins choreographer Rachid Ouramdane in his research on the meeting of two disciplines, dance and extreme sports.
The Festival is also an occasion to unveil new creations, such as CROW and Pigeons by British choreographer Jules Cunningham and Neither drums nor trumpets by American choreographer Pam Tanowitz. Alongside these are the first works by Soa Ratsifandrihana and Georges Labbat, two young artists from P.A.R.T.S., a school founded by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.
The closing event honours three major pieces from George Balanchine’s repertoire: Serenade (1935), Prodigal Son (1929), and Symphony in C (1947) with The Royal Ballet.
Serge Laurent, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Director of Dance and Culture Programs, says:
Weaving together the modern and the contemporary, this historical perspective offers an opportunity to better understand today’s choreographic art and nurture that of tomorrow.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
