Claire Croizé & Etienne Guilloteau

ECCE

Béla

BELA © Koen Broos

Residence

September 29 to October 10, 2025

CCNR dance studio, Rillieux-la-Pape

As part of Accueil-studio program

« Béla will be a création about the power of movement and music »

For Béla, a creation that will take place during the 2025-2026 season, we wanted a very percussive composition, made of complex and musically powerful dynamics and rhythms: music full of life that provokes you to dance. Over the past decade, we have made sure that our dance is generous, both in terms of physicality and the commitment it demands from the dancers, while nevertheless maintaining the precision and articulation of the movements.  Working on the musicality of the movements is also an integral part of our choreographic language. So, when the Belgian contemporary music ensemble Ictus came up with the idea of working with us on Béla Bartók’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion (1938), we immediately accepted this wonderful challenge. It is a work they played some 30 years ago, at the start of Ictus. This sonata was exactly what we were looking for musically, a very strong and explosive piece whose material is constantly transformed.  The sonata, which lasts about 25 minutes, will be central to a wider selection of musical works.

From the start, you are captivated by the music and its development, despite the pauses and variations. The first movement, which oscillates between abstraction and a burst of energy, is very danceable despite its sometimes dizzying speed and abrupt interruptions. The whole movement buzzes with echoes, imitations of one instrument by another, canons and fugatos – everything becomes diffuse, multiplies. It’s as if nature abounds, a rhapsodic composition that exudes chaos through the intense richness of rhythmic, melodic and sonic themes. We want the dance to be part of this density with a vibrant energy: unfolding in space amid the interactions between the pianos and percussion, so that the stage begins to incarnate the first movement of the sonata, which teems with life and multipleness.

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Studio’s opening: Thursday, October 2 or 9, 2025 at 7:30pm
Free on reservation: adriana.falcone@ccnr.fr

Premiere: February 6, 2026 at Concertgebouw Brugge

Casting (in progress)

Concept & choreography: Claire Croizé & Étienne Guilloteau
Dancers: Claire Godsmark, Laure de Dietrich, Cintia Sebök and two others

Musicians: ICTUS/ Jean-Luc Plouvier, Alain Franco, Tom de Cock and Gerrit Nulens
Music: Béla Bartók, Sonata pour deux pianos et percussions sz110 ; compositions appeaux.
Sound engineer: Alex Fostier

Lighting designer: Hans Meijer
Costumes: Anne-Catherine Kunz

Production: ECCE et ICTUS
Distribution and communication ECCE: Carine Meulders
Chief Financial Officer ECCE: Christel Simons

Coproduction: Concertgebouw Brugge, Bozar (pour Ictus), STUK, Perpodium, Centre Chorégraphique National de Rillieux-la-Pape, Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen en Normandie

Current residencies: STUK, ICTUS/Rosas, Concertgebouw Brugge

With the support of the Flemish Government and the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government

Photo: Our solo, © Koen BroosCas