DIAVOLO - "T.R.U.S.T."

DIAVOLO | Architecture in Motion® is a creative movement production company that uses the medium of performance in order to explore the intersection of architecture, innovation, education, and healing. Since 1992, DIAVOLO has been pushing the boundaries of dance, movement and storytelling for audiences around the globe. In more than 250 cities and 14 countries – over 100 million people have witnessed the bold, gravity-defying signature work that is DIAVOLO, including on America’s Got Talent Season 12 and at the 2024 GRAMMYs.

MEET THE ARTIST:
Parisian born Jacques Heim is the dynamic creator and director of Diavolo, which takes a daring, compelling, and uncompromising look at contemporary human life through physicality. Mr. Heim, a transformative director for over 20 years, has studied dance, film, and choreography in France, the United States, and England; he has an MFA in Theatre, Dance, and Film from the California Institute of the Arts. He created Diavolo Dance Theatre in 1992 after graduating from Cal Arts. Due to the unusual and innovative way that Diavolo works with architectural structures, the creative team at Cirque du Soleil hired him to choreograph a show in Las Vegas entitled “Ka,” which opened in 2005 and is still running. Diavolo has performed internationally in Scotland, Japan, Chile, Mexico, Canada, South Korea, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Holland, Germany, and Austria. He was also a Creative Director for the Opening Ceremony of the 16th Asian Game in Guangzhou, China and a consulting choreographer on Ice Age Live!

ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE:
Diavolo is composed of dancers, gymnasts, and actors who all work as teammates. As collaborators they work on, and around, outrageous surrealistic sets and structures. “T.R.U.S.T,” featured in this performance, is a piece choreographed in several sections. The first sections take place in the space on and around a simple platform, a traveling ottoman, and an acrobatic wheel. All of these are manipulated by the dancers as they help each other explore the shared pathways and gravity. They tumble, catch, and slice through the air with perfect precision and teamwork. The next sections have the dancers interact with more familiar structures - like benches, ladders, and a door. As they work with these structures they reveal the importance of cooperative partnering, problem solving, and cooperative space sharing. The final section brings the dancers together as they move through a maze filled with obstacles and tight spaces. The audience will see their ability to overcome adversity and develop confidence. Diavolo's gravity-defying movements create metaphors for the challenges of human relationships and the struggle to maintain one’s balance in today's technical, and often detached world.

PREPARING FOR THE EXPERIENCE:
Diavolo investigates the influences of environment, possessions, and relationships in life. They capture the frequently humorous patterns of human behavior that reveal the everyday struggles we all face in modern society.

Although no two pieces are alike, Diavolo has developed a specific method of working and collaborating. Each new work begins with the selection of a physical set piece that serves as the catalyst for building ideas and movement. Examples include a doorway, staircase, or table. Whether it is a pre-existing or specially constructed structure, Jacques makes his selection based on its role and importance in everyday life. Its architectural qualities, geometric shape, or mechanical functionality are also part of the selection rationale.

The next step in the creative process is to explore ideas through improvisation and collaboration. The performers begin to explore ways to move on and around the set, discovering what kind of movement is possible for individuals, as well as groups. Slowly, the performers begin to reveal the landscape of the set so that it becomes more than just an object. The set designer also plays an important role at this stage of development, constantly adjusting the set and finding ways to both assist and challenge the performers.

After the initial exploration, Mr. Heim begins to shape and edit the piece around the skills of the individual performers, creating solos, duets, and group studies. It is only at this point that the theme of the piece is established. After costumes and lighting designs are added, the final stage in developing the dance is to layer in the sound. The composer comes in, only when the piece is nearly finished, to create the music in much the same way as a film score is written. The creative process is truly collaborative, with each person’s contribution being vital to the success of the finished piece. Ultimately, Diavolo's movement vocabulary is assembled in the manner of a building a collage that becomes an artistic, moving picture of powerful and lasting images.