Personal touch

In 2004 Jérôme Bel, one of the most provocative performance makers of our time, created Véronique Doisneau, a solo for a Paris Opera Ballet artist who was about to retire. On the immense empty stage of Palais Garnier in Paris, Doisneau, in practice clothes, shared with the public reflections on her career, her favourite ballet moments and her thwarted dreams. The performance ended with a stroke of theatrical genius, when Doisneau highlighted the drabness of the corps de ballet’s lot by engaging, alone, in what the 32 swans do while framing the two principals in Swan Lake’s first duet.

The solo, available on video and on YouTube, provided the blueprint for similar works, such as the more recent Cédric Andrieux (2009). The personal history of the 37-year-old French male modern dancer, who moved to the States to become a member of the Cunningham company, is obviously different from that of the retiring ballet artist.