« At the three strikes of midnight, the cats are all grey.
In the far distant woods we can hear the kill.
Backs fleeing through the cathedral forests.
Under the red moon, the spectres roam.
The white Ophelia rises from the long black river.
This evening, keep a watch on your shadows, the other side is out to play. »

For Lionel Hoche, theatre remains this place where, in the wake of Oresteia and Hamlet, the undead are summoned to trouble and to guide the living. But, as a child of modern-times, it's with mixed memories of cinema and fantasy literature that Lionel Hoche offers his theatre illusions of new chimera. These ghostly figures, he knows they have always been and will always be the undead of older, immemorial figures and that, in every period, they are resurrected to talk to us again and again about eternity, where, apparently, time is extremely long. This is why, during this highly unique vampires' ball, we will meet just as many familiar spectres as new creatures: an Ophelia saved from the water, twins reminiscent of the “Shining”, a Nosferatu fleeing his shadow, succubae laughing over sleeping souls, like in a Füssli nightmare sung by a gothic rock band…

These composite figures, which are actually only the fragmented facets of a same body, move through a kaleidoscopic suite of décors that blend flashbacks and déjà-vu. Under the whims of dreams, there will always be the underground rationale of a return journey…

“Entrelacs” attempts a blend, an ever-so singular alchemy: move the codes and the ingredients of the fantasy genre and set them in the choreographic field.

On stage, five dancers multiply avatars and shadows, in a choreographic writing that harmonizes psychosis and manipulation, doubles and opposites. In a black and white scenographic world, where every single dimension is upturned, be it the top or the bottom, the before or the after, Thierry Fournier's interactive video system orchestrates the interplay of spectral apparitions. Split, haunted by its own luminous trace, the dance sweeps along the body in a shimmer, instilling the visible and the invisible, reality and illusion. With its soundtrack that offers tenebrae lessons (Michaël Levinas and Arvo Pärt's organ scores played live, compositions by the group Bauhaus…), the dancers revisit the figures of a never-never, permit the citation, the wink of an eye and humour, creating, as such, new forms of apparitions, embodying new undead…

As was already the case in a great many of Lionel Hoche's past works, “Entrelacs” is more than ever before a statement of a theatre of illusion, a dance of images, a playful rapport with symbols and the invention of poetic rituals. A way to add a little light to the otherwise invisible.

Updating: September 2011

Lionel Hoche was born in 1964 in Paris and in 1978 began his dance studies at the Paris Opera Ballet School.

He  joined the Nederlands Dans Theater in 1983, where he danced under the  direction of Jiri Kylian. During his six years with the company, he also  collaborated with or danced pieces by other prestigious choreographers  such as William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, Ohad Naharin, Jerome Robbins,  Hans van Manen, Jose Limon, Uwe Scholz...

Lionel Hoche undertook his  first choreographic work in 1988, "U should Have Left the Light on", for  the Nederlands Dans Theater II - work that was subsequently performed  by the Companhia de Dança de Lisboa, the Nomades le Loft Vevey company  and the Balleto del'Opera di Roma.

In 1989 Lionel Hoche joined  Astrakan, Daniel Larrieu's company, with whom he danced until 1991. In  1992 he became Larrieu's assistant for Attentat Poétique, created for  the Paris Opera Ballet.

Lionel Hoche founded his own company that  same year and presented "Prière de tenir la main courante" at the  International Cannes Dance Festival, who commissioned and produced this  work.

From 1998-2002 Cie Lionel Hoche was the resident dance company  at the Esplanade Opera Theatre in Saint-Etienne, then from 2005 until  2008 in Maison de la Musique in Nanterre, from 2010 to 2013 in Opera de  Massy, from 2013 til 2016 in Centre des Arts in Enghien les Bains.  The  company just began a new collaboration with two cities: Villetaneuse and  Pierrefitte sur Seine.
Lionel Hoche has worked as a freelance  choreographer for various companies since 1990. Much in demand, he has  created over eighty new commissioned works for more than thirty of  Europe and Asia's most prestigious ballets, such as the Paris Opera  Ballet, the Nederlands Dans Theater, the Batsheva Dance Company, the  Ballets de Monte-Carlo, the Zurich Ballet, the National Ballet of  Finland, the Compañia Nacional de Danza (Madrid), the Ballet du Grand  Théâtre de Genève, the Lyon Opera Ballet, the Ballet Philippines...
Besides  his choreographic work, he began a personal study of fine art in 1988,  and since 1992 designs the set for some of his choreographies.

In  January 2002, Lionel Hoche received the distinction of Chevalier de  l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Minister of Culture, a  knighthood for his contribution to the promotion of dance in France and  abroad.

Source : Mémé Banjo website

More information: www.memebanjo.com

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).