Dominique Brun and her dance company Les Porteurs d’Ombre pay homage to Bronislava Nijinska, sister of the great dancer Nijinsky and the Ballets russes’ first and only female choreographer. In collaboration with her dancers and in the light of a new reading of archive material, she takes a fresh look at Les Noces and reinvents the Bolero in order to bring to our attention an inheritance which has languished for too long in the shadows.

Of all Stravinsky’s works, Les Noces has undergone the most transformations. The composer reworked the orchestration for nearly ten years and produced three versions. It is the little-known 1919 version which is performed here by the Ensemble Aedes and Les Siècles, directed by Mathieu Romano.
Reputedly the composer’s favourite version, it is scored for harmonium, two cimbaloms, pianola, chorus and four soloists, and is considered the best reflection of the prosody and the work’s folk spirit.

It is performed with Ravel’s Bolero in a new arrangement by Robin Melchior for five instruments and 16 voices, with choreography by Dominique Brun and François Chaignaud.