We have enjoyed the company Europa Danse before, with its great Picasso program, and was therefore looking forward to their performance at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The company is in its 11th year, and it has found its style, which I could feel that the audience knew and appreciated.

Europa Dense with Tensilve Involvement, choreography Alvin Nikolaïs. Photo M.Logvinov

This company is showing a light swinging dance style, but not easily, or to easily music. I liked mostly Blé Noir choreographed by Thierry Malandan in 1995, neo classic style, with charming popular Bretonne music, which I thought was swedish, as this pas de deux had some thing, who reminded me of Miss Julie by Birgit Cullberg, but this one with an amusing little, sweet history about a young man, Olivier Coeffard, coming and wanting the young girl, danced by Vivian Sauerbreij, to marry him, and he dances for her, and she dances for him and they are dancing together. She is feeding him and he is getting to much to eat and dies, and she steels his hat, as she is a collector of elegant mens hats!

Two young brilliant dancers!!!

Alwin Nikolaïs two great pieces Tensile Involvement, which opened it all was great, and a bit later Stool Dance was among the best ones in the programme.

Bianca Li´s Pochette Surprise was charming with childens music instruments, as you use for a light party, and the delicious amusing colourful costumes by Francoise Yapo. Very funny and playfull.

Its long time since I have seen some thing by Mats Ek, that I liked, but the small Pas de Dance with four brilliant dancers was really good, and here he had been using popular swedish music, as you can hear every where in sweden during the summer festivitees. First class. Zin was an amusing finale by Nils Christie, but we have seen his repetitive ideas before, and it was notthing new, but the dancers got a lot of fun out of it to Philip Glass music. Costumes by Keso Dekker realised by Hélène Martin-Longstaff. The Oratorio Mongol was quite funny as it was dance or movements to a text. Alexander Eman has been making Three Sisters to a montage of music by A.Ekman. It was funny how the three wimens followed the text in their arguments, but it had very little to do with dance, more a kind of performance.

The Flamenco group had a piece which was called: “Yes - I Accept”, choreographed by Carlos Chamorro to music by Alberto Iglesias. In this pice we were in another type of dancing communication. The audience liked it, I din´t feel that it was lifting up the programme anything, more, like stopping the light entertaining atmosphaere.

Unfortunately, with only such “light” dancing entertainment, I was missing contrasts, the only in that direction was “Blé Noir”, but it could have been a lift with some thing more calm and with beautiful great music, honestly I was missing a grand pas de deux, but I do realize that he dancers in this company dont have that kind of classical competance, so it is good that they have found their niche.

Managament: Jean-Albert Cartier.