Glitter (2024)

 

 

Antonin Rioche / Korzo & Nederlands Dans Theater

 

Glitter is a choreographed composition about love, fame and recognition. It lures us into our childhood in which everything is still possible and dreams have not yet vanished. A melancholic glimpse into lost moments propels the work forward. “The real paradises are the paradise we lost” said Proust. With a hint of humour, the cast of performers embodies intimate memories of dreams that have long been behind us. In Glitter, stardom beckons and puts it in sharp contract with reality. Flirting with tragic burlesque, they take us to what we all recognize: the illusion of greatness that enchants us all. 

 

Choreography & concept: Antonin Rioche

 

Singer & song-composer: Finn Ronsdorf

Dancers: Ève-Marie Dalcourt, Toon Lobach, Grace Lyell

 

Set design: Antonin Rioche

 

Assistant : Rosanne Briens

Light-design: Loes Schakenbos

Stylist: Jan-Jan Van Essche

Sound-design: Jorg Schellekens

 

picture: Alwin Poiana

" During the first performances, it was striking how much makers, face to face with cameras, are able to enhance the (auto) biographical content of their performances. For example, choreographer and dance filmmaker Antonin Rioche made an impression with his premiere of Glitter , in which four experienced performers juggled excitingly with their love-hate relationship against fame, spotlights, admiration and standing ovations. All four showcased, dancing, singing and orating, how they compulsively search for better versions of themselves and experience the dark sides of it. Dutchman Toon Lobach, former dancer with Nederlands Dans Theater 2, played in a glittery dress how he became the dubious center of family parties as a shy child by dressing himself up clownishly. British Grace Lyell, now dancing at Aterballetto in Italy, mainly fulfilled her dance-mad mother's dream. And the Canadian Ève-Marie Dalcourt, former dancer at NDT2 and model, drifting in a red evening dress, illustrated how she fantasizes maddeningly about prize galas. Dancing in heels, running from microphone to keys and from houseplant to disco ball, they never lost sight of the camera.

Singer-songwriter Finn Ronsdorf beautifully summed up all the duplicity behind the piano in glowing songs about the struggle to (want to) be a star. "

★★★★☆


The theatrical, sometimes deliberately bombastic: Glitter by Antonin Rioche works better in that respect, partly thanks to the beautiful lighting by Loes Schakenbos and here too - corona win! - excellent camera work. Rioche shares, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, reflections on (childish) fantasies about greatness, fame, recognition, love. In Grace Lyell and ex-NDT'ers Toon Lobach and Éve-Marie Dalcourt he has found wonderful performers, hyper-expressive and (especially Lobach and Dalcourt) exalted. Vanity, glory, obsession, disappointment - in the lyrics of singer-songwriter and fourth performer Finn Ronsdorf dream and reality mix, illusion and appearances are the main elements in the solos of the three dancers. Dressed in white hospital gowns or glamorous glittery dresses, they alternate with juicy exaggeration spoken monologues with dance fragments full of unbridled energy, with long strokes, spiraling twists and strong leg swings. What remains of their stories, their art when there is no one to admire them? It seems like an obvious theme in corona time, in which everyone in the performing arts is temporarily thrown back to themselves. But that dependent position of the performer - of the viewer, director, choreographer, casting director, media - is timeless, just like the all too recognizable delusions of grandeur and the sadness behind the radiant 'je-ne-regrette-rien laugh. '. A large disco ball treasured as an idol symbolizes the obsession with the enviable enviable existence of glitter and glamor - which sadly ceases to exist once the lights go out. And then, echoed in Ronsdorf's delicately bombastic closing song, loneliness turns out to be the painful reality."  

★★★★☆


The dancers and Ronsdorf are so fully committed to Rioche’s vision. They are all great actors. Yet I wanted even more dance from these incredible movers. Their ending trio was so full of beautiful release, devouring the full stage, catching each other’s eye and smiling at the joy of dancing on stage together, such a rarity right now. The real in surreal, it brought tears to my eyes for them. For any choreographer who can premiere a full-length evening performance during a pandemic, that maker of dreams deserves all the glitter in the world."

★★★★☆