When aerial poetry transcends gravity and the body seems to float in mid-air, audiences are invited to “elevate” with two French contemporary dance works presented this January across three major Indian cities.
The French Institute in India, in collaboration with the Alliance Française Network in India, presents ELEVATION, a striking double bill by Yoann Bourgeois Art Company and Compagnie ISI, marking the first touring experience in India for both companies. As part of its ongoing commitment to fostering dialogue in the performing arts, the French Embassy in India organises annual tours introducing leading French artists to Indian audiences, following previous tours by Mourad Merzouki and (La)Horde from the National Ballet of Marseille.
“Approach 17. Opening proposes a simplified take on existential trajectories, alternating between elevations and descents, with a staircase leading nowhere. Temporal chronology is thwarted with plays on the theme of reversibility. Atop an invisible partition, one character manages to elude the void, playing with the laws of gravity and weightlessness in order to reach a state of freedom, situated between balance and imbalance. This visual poem centers on a moving, vertiginous procession towards the point of suspension, that precise, short-lived moment, when a body has progressed to its highest possible point and the inevitable fall has yet to begin,” says French choreographer Yoann Bourgeois, internationally acclaimed and known for collaborations with artists such as Coldplay and Harry Styles.
Presented in three cities—Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and Delhi—ELEVATION brings together two powerful aerial works exploring suspension, balance, and the timeless human desire to rise beyond limits. The project also offers a rare opportunity to place live performance in dialogue with public space, architecture, and landscape.
When aerial poetry transcends gravity and the body is floating in the sky, take an opportunity to “elevate” with 2 French contemporary dance choreographies coming together this January across 3 major Indian cities.
ABOUT THE TOUR
Bengaluru – Freedom Park (as a part of BLR Hubba Festival), 17 & 18 January 2026 (2 shows)
Ahmedabad – Kanoria Centre for Arts, 24 January 2026
Delhi – Lodhi Art District Festival (in collaboration with St+Art), 1 February 2026
ABOUT THE SHOW
ELEVATION unites for the first time Approach 17. Opening Act and Dialogue au Mât (Le Mât), two creations, respectively choreographed by Yoann Bourgeois and Lucas Struna - who also acts as one of the main performers. Though distinct in form, the works are bound by a shared language of ascent and descent, stillness and motion — a reflection on gravity as both a physical law and a metaphor for human resilience.
Approach 17. Opening Act has been conceived as a minimalist yet powerful performance set to the opening movement of a music by Philip Glass. At its centre is a simple staircase that becomes the stage for a precise dialogue between the body and the laws of physics.
Timed with a hidden trampoline, each fall, rebound, and suspension transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. The act focuses on the point of suspension, that fleeting instant before the fall begins.
“A circus ‘number’ is a condensed form,” explains Bourgeois. “By simplifying, by extracting, we reach an intensity where the piece can exist anywhere, beyond context or culture. Meaning emerges through the act itself.”
Created by Lucas Struna, Dialogue au Mât, which follows in the show, is rooted in Mallakhamb, one of the world’s oldest physical disciplines, originating in India.
After training in Mumbai with master Uday Deshpande, Struna transformed this ancestral practice into a contemporary solo performed around a vertical pole. Blending dance and acrobatics, the piece traces a personal journey shaped by cultural exchange between France and India.
“Mallakhamb taught me that this practice is an offering,” says Struna. “It is not about performance alone, but about discipline, respect, and something greater than oneself. This piece is my way of giving back what India has given me.”
The work reflects a search for harmony between discipline and freedom, body and spirit and brings on stage Indian and French performers in a perfect syncretism of gestures.
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