This month, “Le Parc”, the emblematic ballet by choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, will be revived at the Opéra National de Paris.
Created for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1994, this piece in three acts, considered by many critics and admirers to be a masterpiece, explores the games of love with lightness and sensuality, set to the music of Mozart.
Working on Le Parc means_”_feeling Mozart’s text come alive in every step”, explains Angelin Preljocaj.
The choreographer feels privileged to be able to look back on his creative past: _”_Artists are so lucky to be able to do what they love: to continue inventing, creating, fantasising and dreaming. It’s as if we’ve never left the territory of childhood, in a way, and I find that very beautiful. Growing old, maturing, while retaining that childlike sense of wonder, is magnificent,” says Preljocaj.
“What’s fascinating about Le Parc,” he continues,“i_s that each generation brings its own sensibility to it“,_ emphasising how the Opera’s young dancers, many discovering these roles for the first time, redefine the male-female relationships represented on stage_: “_a ballet that is at once sensual, mischievous and deeply human.”
These young dancers bring a new energy, emotions and complicity to the stage, making each scene unique and almost palpable for the audience.
Where does Preljocaj draw his inspiration from?
“Personally, when I create a piece, I have three questions that go round and round, linked to the text, the pretext and the context. The text is my dance, my choreographic writing. The pretext is: is this Swan Lake, a fairy tale, or a reflection on gravity? That’s the pretext. And then the context is our times”, explains the choreographer.
And he adds,_”_What has changed in the context is that there is a redefinition of male-female relationships and even of love relationships in general. In other words, certain things that our ancestors, cavemen, or even 20, 30 or 40 years ago, could do are no longer acceptable today, and that’s normal, because there was a state of mind back then that, in my opinion, was completely illegitimate.”
Le Parc is on at the Opéra national de Paris until 25 February 2026.