With an inviting and light atmosphere, we welcome and ask the public to share the stage in our serious act of play.
We play being seen. We play  inviting. We play transformation. We play ritual. We play in a group. We  play we "get it". We play a game. We play spectator. We play performer.
All become engaged with the  questions of proximity and behavior. These relationships resonate in a  multitude of sensations, as the lines between viewing and the act of  being viewed are constantly drawn and erased. What is the practice of  performing?
Within the large group, the  dancers autonomously navigate the mass. Moving and evolving through a  score of activities and sensations, they perform the act of focus and  attention, recognizing our time together passing.
Who is playing the performer? Who is playing the spectator?

Born in Stockholm, Petter Jacobsson started his studies in dance at  the age of three and was further educated at the Royal Swedish Ballet  School, he later graduated from the Vaganova Academy in St.Petersburg in  1982.

As a principal dancer with the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet in London  between 1984 to 1993, he toured the globe dancing all of the renowned  classical roles as well as appearing as guest artist with numerous  international companies. In 1993, he moved to New York to begin a  freelance career, studying with Merce Cunningham and working with Twyla  Tharp Dance Company, Irene Hultman Dance and later Deborah Hay.

Petter and Thomas Caley started working as a creative team in the mid  nineties, choreographing works for Martha@Mother, the Joyce Soho in New  York and the choreography for the opera Staden at the Royal Opera in  Stockholm, a commission for the 1998 Cultural capital of Europe.

In 1999, when Petter was appointed the artistic directorship of the  Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm, they made the move to Europe to  continue their artistic collaboration. An exceptional embodiment of  their work for the RSB was the creating of two immense happenings,In nooks and crannies 2000 and 2001.  The project included the Royal Ballet, Opera and Orchestra, as well as  independent artists who took-over non-traditional, yet possible,  performance spaces occupying the entire Royal Opera House of  Stockholm. Petter received "Choreographer of the year 2002” from the Society of Swedish Choreographers in recognition of the modernisation of the Royal Swedish Ballet. 

After years of collaboration, Petter and Thomas established an independent dance company in 2005 - works include Nightlife, Unknown partner, Flux, No mans land- no lands  man,The nearest nearness – in 2002 they won a “Goldmask” for best choreography for the musical Chess with Björn Ulveus and Benny Andersson (ABBA).

As of 2011, Petter is leading and choreographing together with Thomas  Caley for the CCN Ballet de Lorraine in Nancy. Their curating for the  CCN invites as well a wide variety of artistic talent from around the  world. Each invited creator joins in the active questioning of a  specific theme. La saison de La 12/13, Tête à tête à têtes 13/14, Live 14/15, Folk + Danse = (R)évolution 15/16 and Des plaisirs inconnus 16/17.  To insure a lively and non fixed use of the art form they continue  their searching through installations for the Musée d’Art Moderne in  Paris and Musée Pompidou Metz and an original initiative LAB-BLA-BAL, where a series of open house art experiments, workshops, and discussions are given at our choreographic center.

Source : Ballet de Lorraine

More information: http://ballet-de-lorraine.eu/en/

From live stage images to life in images, the  director and video artist Karim Zeriahen seems to have found the  shortest way. Since the beginning of the 90s, when he worked in close  relationship with choreographer Philippe Decouflé, he learned how to put  the art of stage in motion, contemporary dance most of the time. Karim  Zeriahen then starts a fruitful collaboration with Montpellier based  choreographer Mathilde Monnier. Stop, Videlilah, day of night, short  films adapted from her stage creations. Each time, Karim Zeriahen's   camera takes over the place with movement, the body language is not  frozen but magnified. Choreographer Herman Diephuis also joins this  gallery of dancing portraits. Documentaries on figures such like Albert  Maysles or Hubert de Givenchy and from Joe Dalessandro to Paul  Morrissey, he sets a signature, a camera always in action with  confidence.

Today the director goes further with a new  project and tracks the subtle movements of the body language beyond the  physical appearance. A collection of living portraits as unique pièces  reminding us of the master portraitists of renaissance. These living  natures consists in filming the subject in a certain amount of time,  almost still, with signs of respiration, eye blinks, as if it were  posing for a painting. They are then displayed on a flat screen with a  memory card. With this collection starting, Karim Zeriahen, with his  documentary and artist vision, interrogates himself about the virtual  world filled with images. By taking a pause, and his models with him, he  questions the way we look at things, the way we look at life.

Source: Philippe Noisette 

En savoir plus: www.karimzeriahen.com

Since acquiring the CCN title in 1999, the Centre Chorégraphique National - Ballet de Lorraine has dedicated itself to supporting contemporary choreographic creation. As of July 2011 the organization is under the general and artistic direction of Petter Jacobsson.
The CCN – Ballet de Lorraine and its company of 26 dancers is one of the most important companies working in Europe, performing contemporary creations while retaining and programming a rich and extensive repertory, spanning our modern history, made up of works by some of our generations most highly regarded choreographers.
The CCN functions as an art center and venue for multiple possibilities in the fields of research, experimentation and artistic creation. It is a platform open to many different disciplines, a space where the many visions of dance of today may meet. 

More information : http://ballet-de-lorraine.eu