Diavolo!

Rancho Cucamonga, California – Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of covering KA in Las Vegas — by far the biggest spectacle Cirque du Soleil has ever created.  The show was actually inspired by the moves and props of an avant guard Los Angeles dance company, wickedly calling itself  ”Diavolo,” under the artistic direction of a charismatic Frenchman named Jacques Heim.  Jacques had been pulled from his downtown dance/loft space in Los Angeles to choreograph and design the gigantic $200M KA.

Last night, at the recently built Rancho Cucamonga Cultural Center, about an hour east of L.A. (the “Inland Empire”), I had the pleasure of watching the opening performance of Diavolo’s 2008-2009 tour.  As a self-confessed, bi-coastal Hollywood/Manhattan cultural snob, I was both pleased and reassured, considering the present dire state of our nation, that culture has indeed permeated between our coasts.  I was also pleased to see an utterly unique, exciting, and sublimely aesthetic performance of Diavolo that left an indelible impression upon all in attendance.

In the words of Jacques Heim, Diavolo is a combination of ballet, modern dance, gymnastics, acrobatics, martial arts, and…architecture.  Yes, architecture, as every piece involves the interaction of bodies and unique physical sets.

“Foreign Bodies,” the first piece of a well-paced evening, started with a huge metallic cube packed with hidden spaces. Dancers, acrobats, gymnasts, and actors turn the cube into a pyramid, then three pyramids, then a wall, three walls, a bridge, and a labyrinth, all the while leaping from peak to peak, rolling down the sides, and twirling and flying across this surreal landscape, exploring the human condition through movement — all driven by an original musical piece created for the company by L.A. Philharmonic’s Esa Pekka Salonen.  Program notes describe it as an epic journey through the evolution of mankind — abstractions in a strange land of bacteria invading a body which invoke a loss of identity and the wonder of life’s persistence.

“Tete En L’Air,” literally translated “head in the sky” and based on the surreal work of French filmmaker Jaques Tati, put the troupe on, inside, and around a set of stairs, showing a culture bewildered by endless commuting, fear of intimacy, and trying to transcend their shells.

“Knockturne” presented a love duet, choreographed to an emotional Puccini opera aria, where a man and a woman move and fly about a door which seeks to stand between them.

“D2R-A” (pronounced “detour”) turned up the heat, as a militaristic group deals with a wall studded with metal bars.  The piece was  volatile and explosive.  It also provided the inspiration for the massive KA set, which literally turned a 100-foot stage on end.

And the finale, “Trajectoire,” perhaps the signature Diavolo piece (and also further inspiration for KA), began with a huge half-cylinder. Bodies emerge, jump, turn, fly, caress, and rock the giant cylinder dangerously to the point of almost tipping over — bringing oohs and sighs from the audience.

Then a thunderous standing ovation by an auditorium in Rancho Cucamonga who had just witnessed raw and pure art.  Diavolo is a special group, exhilarating to dance connoisseurs yet accessible to civilians.  It is not to be missed.

Diavolo Website

Diavolo 2008-2009 Tour Dates:

September 18th, 19th, & 20th Modesto, CA Gallo Center
September 27th Louisville, KY The Kentucky Center
October 7th Decatur, AL The Princess Theater
October 14th Tulsa, OK College of DuPage 
October 17th & 18th Ft Colins, CO University Dance Theater 
November 1st Santa Clarita, CA Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center
January 16th Schenectady, NY Protor’s Theater
January 19th Camden, ME Bay Chamber Concerts
January 23rd Portland, ME Merill Auditorium
January 29th, 30th, & 31st Notre Dame, IN University of Notre Dame Center
February 17th, & 18th Long Beach, CA The Carpenter Performing Arts Center
February 20th & 21st Santa Monica, CA The Stage at Santa Monica
February 24th Laramie, WY UW Cultural Programs
February 27th Madison, WI Wisconsin Union Theater
March 3rd Wausau, WI Wausau Performing Arts Foundation at Artsblock
March 17th Luther, IA Luther College
April 15th Billings, MT Alberta Bair Theater
March 20th Appleton, WI Fox Cities Performing Arts Center
March 27th & 28th St. Louis, MO Washington University, Edison Theater
April 4th Omaha, NE Omaha Performing Arts
April 10th Lincoln, NE Lied Center for Performing
Arts April 17th & 18th Austin, TX Austin Theater Alliance
April 24th Manhattan, KS Kansas State University Kansas State University