We were waiting for her, but not on this kind of ground! Since P=mg (2013), a first solo that won nine international awards, Jann Gallois, co-director of the Agora, has become known for dance that is rigorous, tightly built and full of energy — a grounded, sometimes muscular style. Her new piece, Imminentes, does the very opposite. It all begins gently: two performers come together, turn, brush against each other with great delicacy, like an echo of Paul Valéry's line, "The deepest thing in a human being is the skin." From there the piece moves in continuous waves, slowly gaining speed and intensity around the image of the circle — the same one Matisse once painted.
To Patrick De Oliveira's original score, six dancers fill the space without pause, in a long crescendo. Flowing gestures, lightly touched heads, tensions that loosen: the dance turns intimate and calm, a kind of gentle sisterhood, with no militant stance, almost spiritual. Drawing on a Buddhist influence, Jann Gallois seeks an inner harmony built on repetition and physical commitment. The build-up leads to a head-on finale, but one without rivalry, asserting a real "power of gentleness." The all-female cast steps away from the usual codes of seduction: Imminentes shows a true choreographic maturity, free of naivety or easy idealism. Long awaited, Jann Gallois — and very much there.