FIAF will fly in the Paris Opera & Ballet’s playful Play this week, with a live talk March 11
Who: The Paris Opera & Ballet
What: Virtual screening and live discussion
Where: French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) online
When: Thursday, March 11, $15, 12:30 (stream available on demand March 8-14)
Why: Swedish dancer, choreographer, and director Alexander Ekman’s first commission from the Paris Opera & Ballet was the wild and woolly Play, a 2017 work that featured women dressed as deer, a furious rain of green balls, large blocks floating in the air, and other dreamlike scenarios. “We thought of life by analogy with the journey, with a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at the end, but the thing was to get to that end, success or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after your death, but we missed the point the whole way along,” a disembodied voice explains. FIAF will be streaming a recorded version of the production, with music composed by the Harlem-based Mikael Karlsson, from March 8 to 14; each $15 ticket also gives you access to a livestreamed Zoom talk with Ekman (Cacti, Tuplet), Karlsson, and theater critic Laura Cappelle on March 11 at 12:30.