Silent Collisions

Metaphors for cities in perpetual transformation—both living environments and crushing machines—the eleven “tableaux” by choreographer Frédéric Flamand, who collaborated with architect Thom Mayne on Silent Collisions, offer a series of contrasting intensities with great visual power. Freely inspired by Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, this piece, created in June 2003 for the opening of the Venice Biennale, plunges the viewer into a frenetic world where living bodies and cities, symbolized by spectacular moving architecture, clash or unite in a choreography alternating between violence and embrace. The dance is powerful and furious, with sweeping movements. Video projections (text and images) and lighting effects saturate the stage, evoking an urban environment dominated by tension and rupture. A fruitful collaboration between choreographer, architect, visual artist, and musicians.

Source: Biennale de la danse 2004