Mirage

With Mirage, Damien Jalet offers his very first creation for the Ballet du Grand Théâtre, where he has been an associate artist since 2022. Mirage also constitutes the fourth chapter of his collaboration with Japanese visual artist Kohei Nawa. After VESSEL (2016), Mist (2022) and Planet[wanderer] (2021, 2023 at the GTG), they continue their exploration of nature in perpetual metamorphosis of living things, merging their respective disciplines and confronting the human body with different materials.

Inspired by the phenomenon of mirages and fata morgana – optical illusions linked to specific meteorological conditions, caused by light being distorted as it passes through different temperature layers of air – Damien Jalet and Kohei Nawa depict humanity wandering in a metaphorical desert in search of itself. Through a series of transformations, the piece peels back the performers, layer after layer, exploring an endless variety of physical and emotional states.

Sometimes evoking the spectres of a civilization at the edge of a dry well, sometimes crossed with the dazzling colours and sensuality of tropical nature, Mirage passes through like a moving, fluctuating, waking dream of atmospheric phenomena.

Mirage
Damien Jalet & Kohei Nawa
Creation for the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève

World premiere

Coproduction with Kampnagel-Hambourg, Festspielhaus St. Pölten (AT), Charleroi Danse, Centre chorégraphique de Wallonie-Bruxelles, Centro de Danza Matadero-Madrid, Maison de la Danse, Lyon – Pôle européen de création

6, 7 and 9 May 2025 – 8PM
11 May 2025 – 3PM
Duration: 1h without intermission

Mirage is a creation based on the project Mirage [transitory], produced and organised by Sandwich Inc, Zero-Ten Inc, Super Massive Global Co. Ltd, sponsored by Yoshimura Holdings and presented in Fukuoka (Japan) in September 2024.
In the memory of Ryo Shiraki (1990-2025)

Special thanks to Rombaut shoes for their kind collaboration

You are part of a journey , in the folds of a fabulous mirage. You are wrapped , privileged as you are, in the fabric of a dream.
__Le Temps

Mirage is a dazzling masterpiece that sucks its audience in like the circular well formed on the floor by the dancers. A huge cosmic hole in the choreographic landscape!
__Transfuge 

Light, fog, projections, depressions in the ground or towering walls form artificial, virtual landscapes. In them dancers appear to merge with the phenomena. They dive deep in the theatrical experience. They unfold in it , merge into it , emerge differently from it… they appear at the same time, very naked , very human and also peculiarly alienated, like mythological beings or beautiful demons.

__Frankfurter allgemein Zeitung 

Long seconds pass before the moved audience gives a triumphant reception to this spectacle, where the beauty of the gestures vies with that of the incredible technical means employed to paint these living tableaux. Undeniably, Damien Jalet and Kohei Nawa have created a masterful work of aesthetic beauty, spiritual depth, and acerbic mysticism, of a very high artistic standard.
__Resmusica

Mirage confirms Damien Jalet as an alchemist of movement, capable of blending visual impact with metaphysical depth. The captivated audience gives a standing ovation to this work, which, somewhere between minimalism and grand spectacle, redefines the boundaries of contemporary dance. A total experience, where the body is nothing more than a vector of the elements—and the spectator, a marveling traveler!
__Classicnews 

In a dance theatre that definitely no longer requires classical step sequences, but dares to embark on a journey into freedom – and in doing so, touches on the essence of the coming and going of life.

__Concerti

“Mirage condemn us to believe in the only eternal thing: beauty. Here in apotheosis.”
Cult news

CREDITS
Concept and Choreography Damien Jalet
Concept and Scenography Kohei Nawa
Music Thomas Bangalter
Lighting Designer Yukiko Yoshimoto
Costumes Designer Kunihiko Morinaga (ANREALAGE)
Choreographic Advisor Aimilios Arapoglou
Video Florent Dubois
Scenography Assistant Nikolai Korypaev
Costumes Assistant Anna Sato
Choreographic Assistant Kehua Li
Creative producer for Damien Jalet Jamila Hessaïne
Programming Ryo Shiraki

Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève

Yumi Aizawa, Jared Brown, Zoé Charpentier, Quintin Cianci, Riccardo Gomes Macedo, Zoe Hollinshead, Mason Kelly, Julio León Torres, Emilie Meeus, Stefanie Noll, Juan Perez Cardona, Endre Schumicky, Kim Van der Put, Geoffrey Van Dyck, Nahuel Vega, Madeline Wong.