Le Syndrome Ian

Christian Rizzo carries both, the fun swinging disco 1970s beat as well as the almost concurrently emerging post punk and new wave movement – marked by atmospheric electronic sounds and a dance style popularised by the stage performances of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. With “Le Syndrome Ian”, following “D’aprés une histoire vraie“ and “Ad noctem“, Christian Rizzo concludes his trilogy on what he calls anonymous or popular dances. The trilogy is dedicated to movement forms that become inscribed into a generation’s bodies and feature a lack of clear authorship – developing in temporary community experiences like club dancing or raves. The movement repertoire of his previous works included head banging and line dancing right down to trance-like swirling and folklore or even the reinterpretation of ballroom dancing. In his new piece, he unites nine dancers in a collective vibration, a sort of self-contamination with the iconic Joy Division frontman’s dancing style. It blooms in its excessive effect amid light objects, and even the darkest abyss appears in mysterious figures in this slightly detached space. The “Ian echo” of the Joy Division frontman reverberates long between the walls and bodies, making the attitude and the conflicting powers of a generation palpable.

Christian Rizzo graduated from the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Nice, played in a rock band and ran a fashion label, and he employs art between dance, performance and visual arts. Since January 2015, he holds the position of artistic director at  Centre chorégraphique national de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon. He previously held a residence at the Opéra de Lille where he directed numerous operas.

Duration: 55 min.