Quintett, Trio and Enemy in the Figure
William Forsythe
Opéra national du Rhin Ballet

In 2025, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is supporting Chaillot – Théâtre National de la Danse for the presentation of Quintett, Trio and Enemy in the Figure de William Forsythe performed by the Opéra national du Rhin Ballet.
The dancers in Quintett engage in a continuous flow of duets, solos and trios in counterpoint to the bass music of Gavin Bryar. Spinning and tumbling, the dancers create a swirling force that grows in fluid, joyful complexity; a torrent containing, in its luminous, vibrant vision, the awareness of its own eventual end.
In Trio the Allegro movement of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 15 becomes a dynamic, action-packed playground for the sprightly interaction of three dancers. They explore the weight of their bodies and release it to the music in a skillful, aerial tangle of limbs.
A wavy screen runs diagonally across the stage, where a rolling spotlight awaits in Enemy in the Figure. The ghostly silhouettes of 11 dancers emerge out of the shadows. Their geometric convulsions play with the light to the haunting rhythm of Thom Willems's music.