Malandain Ballet Biarritz
"Les Saisons"
Detroit Opera House
April 26, 2025
After a long, dreary winter, spring has finally arrived in Michigan, and it was perfectly complemented Saturday by the return of French neoclassical ballet company Malandain Ballet Biarritz at the Detroit Opera House.
The company made its American debut of “Les Saisons,” an abstract ballet celebrating the changing of the seasons. The work was performed to two pieces of inter-spliced Baroque music that shared the title “Four Seasons” — one being the internationally famous work by Antonio Vivaldi, and the other by his lesser-known contemporary Giovanni Antonio Guido. The piece was meant to celebrate the relationship between humanity and nature, a fantasy to bring out the divinity of humankind.
Twenty-two dancers filled the stage wearing a series of costumes that alternated among simple black dresses, colorful pannier-style gowns and nude leotards with black wings. They were surrounded by a relatively simple yet powerful backdrop of hanging feathery black leaves in front of a screen that subtly changed color among muted green, orange, red, blue and black tones.
The ballet was absolutely beautiful and one of my favorite dance presentations I’ve seen at the Detroit Opera House in the past decade. Choreographer and company founder Thierry Malandain brought the music to life with an exciting, consistently visually interesting piece that made the hour-long performance fly by.
While audience members could likely tell (at least some of) the difference between the Vivaldi, music they know, and the less famous Guido, the pieces alternated smoothly, the elaborate Baroque sounds flowing easily from one to the next without noticeable interruption.
Coordinating with the changes in music, the dancers alternated between natural movements that mimicked flight, the falling of leaves and an overall return to a free organic movement with more formal Baroque-style dancing with bows, curtsies and choreographed ballroom steps reminiscent of French court tradition.
Malandain’s choreography fit perfectly to the intricate violin and harpsichord rhythms, capturing every nuance of the sound to an incredibly satisfying effect. His style fully utilized the large ensemble, filling the stage with an endless flow of motion, with an occasional solo or small group in between. His liberal use of movement in canon created a beautiful cascade that kept the eye constantly moving from one visual effect to the next, always exciting and never predictable. The uniformly clean lines and control of the dancers worked together to create intricate layers and patterns with their bodies, which also created a satisfying effect.
The black leaf backdrop, while relatively simple, enclosed and complemented the movement perfectly, creating a heightened drama. It paired with the flowing, black wings the dancers wore on their arms, emphasizing their connection with nature and the divine.
While the music wasn’t live, it was originally recorded at the Palace of Versailles, performed on traditional Baroque instruments by the orchestra of the Royal Opera of Versailles, which added an additional touch of French royalty to the experience.
“Les Saisons” was an incredible experience, and I look forward to their next visit to Detroit.
