Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels presents its second New York festival, reaffirming its role as a platform for international choreographic exchange.
Far from being a conventional festival, Dance Reflections operates as a lens through which the long-standing engagement of Van Cleef & Arpels with dance meets the daring experimentation of today’s choreographers. Launched in 2020, the programme frames dance as a meeting point between past and present, a space where choreographic traditions converse with contemporary voices and where the audience becomes part of that evolving conversation.
After a celebrated debut in the city in 2023, Dance Reflections returns to New York to continue its ongoing dialogue with contemporary dance. Over several weeks, the festival transforms the city into a stage for exploration, bringing together cross-generational choreographers, emerging voices and landmark works. This year’s edition expands on that premise, inviting audiences to experience a rich tapestry of performance that balances homage with innovation. As Catherine Rénier, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, explains, “Dance has been an inspiration for the Maison for over 100 years, and we took a new step in 2020 with the creation of the Dance Reflections initiative. This festival is the seventh that has been hosted worldwide”. The location is particularly important, as Rénier adds: “New York has always had a special bond with choreographic art, and also with Van Cleef & Arpels. This is where our history with dance started a long time ago and so it means a lot for us to be in the city with this festival”.
From BIPED (1999) by American dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, performed by the Lyon Opera Ballet, to the striking new work Mycelium (2023) by Christos Papadopoulos, the programme navigates the tension between the familiar and the unknown. In collaboration with Works & Process, the Guggenheim presents Lucinda Child’s Early Works series, which finds fresh resonance within the museum’s rotunda. At the Howard Gilman Opera House (BAM), (LA)HORDE – formed in 2013 by Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and Arthur Harel and directing the Ballet national de Marseille since 2019 – presents Age of Content (2023), a work exploring the boundaries between virtual and real bodies. The performance unfolds within a monumental stage design evoking bunkers, industrial warehouses and cliffside landscapes, inviting audiences to confront alternate versions of themselves through a central gloomy fight scene.
Marine Brutti shares with Canvas: “We are a collective – our work is very conversational from the start, we have space between the three of us where we can question the world, decipher it and approach it without fear. There is the safety to exchange ‘stupid’ ideas or anything we can’t fully grasp and, in that space, we can simulate one another and create emulation”. Jonathan Debrouwer also highlights the collaborative relationship between dancers, describing them as “the thinkers of the body” and highlights how “what’s very special about Marseilles is that we have 16 nationalities. So when we explore a subject with them, each brings a different cultural perspective. We never want to show them exactly what we have in mind, because then there are expectations. We are always surprised how the work can go much further than expected, and when the dancers feel truly safe, the collaboration becomes beautiful. It allows us to go very, very far.”
Among the many voices shaping this year’s programme, Benjamin Millipied’s L.A Dance Project presents a triptych of contemporary ballets – Reflections (2013), Hearts & Arrows (2014) and On the Other Side (2016). Commissioned by Van Cleef & Arpels and inspired by the symbolic and emotional resonance of precious stones, the three works are showcased in their entirety for the first time in New York by Perelman Performing Art Center (PAC NYC) and Dance Reflections. Together, they trace a decade of Millipied’s creative exploration. He affirms how his choreography is deeply shaped by music, from Bach to Philip Glass, whose compositions both capture “the beauty of the world and its tragedy at the same time”. Millipied blends narrative and emotion, developing long-envisioned projects such as Winterreise and demonstrating his commitment to exploring life through dance inspired by profound musical and philosophical depth.
Beyond the stage, the festival’s commitment to education and transmission is clear. Workshops at the New York Center for Creativity & Dance open doors to deeper engagement, fostering dialogue not only between artists but also across generations of dance lovers. For Serge Laurent, director of dance and culture programmes at Van Cleef & Arpels, this spirit of exchange is at the core of the festival’s curation. His approach is guided by a desire to offer audiences a panoramic vision of contemporary choreography. “When I curate a festival, I think about what to give to the audience,” he explains. “My main goal is to communicate why I’m so fascinated by the creation. Contemporary dance is incredibly diverse, and I strive to present that diversity to the audience and highlight what dance is today.” Ultimately, what emerges from Dance Reflections is not simply a sequence of performances but a carefully articulated philosophy of encounter. It invites audiences not merely to watch but also to reflect, question and carry the experience beyond the theatre hall.
