How Van Cleef & Arpels Supports Modern Dance With Its Dance Reflections Initiative
Follow us to Seoul, South Korea for this year’s edition of the dance festival held in conjunction with the Seoul Performing Arts Festival.
By Renee Batchelor - published
The link between modern dance and jewellery may not be immediately evident—but there is something in the suggestion of curves, grace and sensuality in both art forms that reflect a kind of symmetry. For the storied jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels, dance is in its DNA. The brand co-founder Louis Arpels was an avid fan of the ballet, and Van Cleef & Arpels immortalised the exquisite beauty of this particular dance in precious jewellery clips beginning in the 1940s that still remain collectible, signature pieces today.
The passion for dance was something that the brand wanted to give full expression to, and this was realised by the birth of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels in 2020. A festival dedicated to supporting contemporary dance, Dance Reflections saw its inaugural Korean edition (and its sixth edition thus far) in October this year, and I was privileged to attend four outstanding performances from around the globe. Co-presented by the Seoul Performing Arts Festival in various locations around the city, the festival gives just a taste of what contemporary dance can offer as well as the reactions—from visceral to intellectual—that it can provoke.
Related article: Van Cleef & Arpels Unveils New Flora Jewellery Collections: Flowerlace & Fleurs d’Hawaï
Dance Lessons
Dance students at Sungkyunkwan University attend a workshop by dancers from the Ballet National de Marseille
My journey began somewhat unexpectedly in Sungkyunkwan University where I was invited to sit in on a dance workshop conducted by dancers from the Ballet National de Marseille who would be performing (LA) HORDE’s Room With a View.
(LA) HORDE’s Room with a View
Over the course of a few hours, young dance students learned the explosive and energetic final few minutes of the critically acclaimed dance performance that would be making its Korean debut the following evening in the National Theatre. Being that close to the action on the rehearsal floor—and seeing the literal perspiration that underpinned the inspiration—was just a starter on a multi-course menu.
Related article: Van Cleef & Arpels’ Treasure Island Collection Is A Bibliophile’s Dream Come True
Supporting Dance
Serge Laurent, Van Cleef & Arpels’ director of dance and culture programmes explains, “A festival is not only a space to showcase artists; it is also an opportunity to discuss dance, its history, and its issues. The programme should illustrate the richness and diversity of dance but also explain where dance comes from by talking about its history and evolution.” Learning and teaching is also part of the mission. Says Laurent, “Contemporary dance is a global concept that gives artists a great deal of freedom, and it is therefore essential to explain it to the public through meetings, masterclasses, and workshops so that everyone can better discover this art.”
The Performances
Tao Dance Theatre perform 16 & 17
Discovering this ancient art form that is continually evolving was certainly an eye opener for me. The performances included 16 &17 by the Beijing-based Tao Dance Theatre, a hypnotic piece that explores repetitive motion and practice of Eastern somaesthetics and Save The Last Dance For Me, an intimate exploration of the forgotten Polka Chinata, an Italian folk dance, by Alessandro Sciarroni. The performances ranged from the large scale like Room With a View, with a dystopian, otherworldly set, to bare bones production with the audience literally seated on cushions on the wooden dance floor, stripping down the artifice and focusing only on the movement and the sound that the movement made.
Alessandro Sciarroni presented the Polka Chinata in an intimate performance space
Beyond the intimacy of such performances was the feeling of rawness and the dynamism that exists in a moving human body that is easy to forget in a world of phone screens and remote work. Some of the pieces seemed to allude to the disorder of the present world and environmental issues, but left interpretation open to the audience. Says Laurent, “Artists observe the world and create from their context. For my part, I am very interested in these social issues and I think these messages are important, but I am also fascinated by the art of pure movement and the possibility of creating works with the dancing body as a medium.”
Related article: Your Guide To All The Dancers On ‘World Of Street Woman Fighter’
A History of Transmission
The day after the debut performance of Room With A View, I sat down with (LA) HORDE, composed of Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and Arthur Harel, a collective of multidisciplinary artists who direct the Ballet National de Marseille. (LA) HORDE spoke about how in taking over the Ballet National de Marseille, which was founded by legendary French dancer and choreographer Roland Petit, it was important to keep the name of “ballet” while redefining what that could mean. “We have a lot of respect for history and the old generation, so it’s a balance between history and modernity,” says (LA) HORDE.
For (LA) HORDE, they are a part of a long history of evolution and transmission that is the backbone of contemporary dance. “When you think about dance, there is like a long journey of transmission. And we can be here today because Lucinda Childs started something, 60 years ago and because Loie Fuller started things 100 years ago. And this is very important for us to understand that every freedom that we have today was earned by the previous generation that questioned tradition and were the pioneers of change at the time. We are very aware of this tradition [in dance] of not being conservative. We need to cherish our history and remember it, because it prevents us from making past mistakes. But there is still room for elevation and trying to create a world around us that is more balanced and equitable.”