Lost in Ballets russes (2018) - Lara Barsacq
As the great niece of Léon Bakst - famous painter, decorator and costume designer of the Ballets Russes -, Lara Barsacq spent her childhood immersed in a revolutionary and prolific work. She is deeply marked by the reproductions of the artist including those representing Ida Rubinstein, the muse, fascinating and exotic dancer. In Lost in Ballets Russes, Lara draws from her memory both the paintings of the great-uncle and some artifacts of the 1970s, to create an autobiographical piece as a tribute to her father, envisioning her dance as a ritual that transcends time.
Lost in Ballets russes is a solo project by Lara Barsacq. It premiered on April 19th, 2018 at La Raffinerie (Brussels), in the frame of Festival LEGS - Charleroi danse.
A video recording of the performance is available for screenings. Contact us for more information.
After Lost in Ballets russes, Lara created IDA don’t cry me love (2019). Both pieces form a diptych.
Lara Barsacq also created Fruit Tree (2021) and La Grande Nymphe (2023). In October 2025, she will created Kassia Undead.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
This production is available in English or in French. Contact us for more information.
PREVIOUS TOUR DATES
19.04.2018 | Festival LEGS, La Raffinerie, Charleroi danse, Brussels (BE)
06.12.2018 | La Balsamine, Brussels (BE)
07.12.2018 | La Balsamine, Brussels (BE)
08.12.2018 | La Balsamine, Brussels (BE)
21.05.2019 | Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris (FR)
22.05.2019 | Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris (FR)
29.11.2019 | (extrait), Podium, La Rampe, Echirolles (FR)
30 - 31.01.2020 | Canal (rencontre professionnelle), CND, Paris (FR)
14.05.2020 | (extrait), Fête de la Danse, Genève (CH) - (cancelled)
15.05.2020 | (extrait), Fête de la Danse, Genève (CH) - (cancelled)
09 - 21.07.2020 | Théâtre des Doms, Avignon (FR) - (postponed)
19.01.2021 | Pole-Sud, CDCN Strasbourg (FR) - (cancelled)
20.01.2021 | Pole-Sud, CDCN Strasbourg (FR) - (cancelled)
08.03.2021 | Festival Corps de Texte, Théâtre de Liège (BE)
10.07.2021 | Théâtre des Doms / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
11.07.2021 | Théâtre des Doms / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
12.07.2021 | Théâtre des Doms / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
13.07.2021 | Théâtre des Doms / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
14.07.2021 | Théâtre des Doms / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
05.04.2022 | Centre chorégraphique national de Caen (FR)
06.04.2022 | Centre chorégraphique national de Caen (FR)
14.05.2022 | TROIS C-L, Banannefabrik, Luxembourg (LU)
Lost in Ballets russes - a project by Lara Barsacq (55’, 2018)
Project, texts, choregraphy, dramaturgy & performance: Lara Barsacq Support for the dramaturgy: Clara Le Picard Outside eye: Gaël Santisteva Light design: Kurt Lefevre Costumes: Sofie Durnez Music: Bauhaus, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel Participation: Lydia Stock Brody, Nomi Stock Meskin Technical direction: Emma Laroche Administration & production: Myriam Chekhemani Communication & distribution: Quentin Legrand - Rue Branly
Production: Gilbert & Stock Coproduction: Charleroi danse - Centre Chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (BE) Residency partners: Charleroi danse - Centre Chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, La Bellone, La Balsamine (BE), La Ménagerie de Verre, Paris (FR) With the support of Ministère de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles — Service de la danse, Wallonie-Bruxelles International, Grand Studio and Le Réseau Grand Luxe
Lara Barsacq is artist in residence at Théâtre de Liège (2024-2028) and at Cité musicale-Metz (2024-2026).
Photos: Diego Andrés Moscoso, Yves Pezet, Quentin Legrand
Choreographer Lara Barsacq, between Ballets Russes and female icons.
Portrait of Lara Barsacq by Rosita Boisseau, Le Monde, 24.09.23
An astonishing performance on memory, between quirky humor and tragedy, that of the horrors of mankind like that of lost time.
Alain Lambert, musicologie.org, 05.04.22
It is with archival accuracy and at the same time an immense tenderness that Lara tells the story of Ida [Rubinstein] and, in so doing, of her own family. [...] Lara Barsacq, officiating lover, offers us priceless copy-pasted dance snapshots of the great Russian dancer: true happiness!
Danièle Carraz, La Provence, 12.07.21
Léon Bakst was my great-great-uncle. [ ] My desire to dance appeared when I was a child, thanks to a poster that was hanging at home and to some of his paintings. [ ] I immersed myself in the archives to search for anecdotes, stories, other paintings and to learn more about the Russian Ballets. It was a revelation, I found a great source of inspiration! [ ] For this period in particular, there are very few films or visual traces apart from photos or paintings, which invites us to imagine everything. Some people may try to be as faithful as possible to the work; for my part, it was the solution of emancipation that appeared to me the most inspiring.
Lara Barsacq in conversation with Marian Del Valle, NDD 77, 21.01.20
The net of the official history of dance has huge holes. Many are passing through. In particular, women. Fortunately, in recent years, a new generation of artists is passionate about the past and is paying attention, as rigorously and amorously, to personalities more or less fallen in the oblivion. [ ] This personal and artistic historical thread also carries the show Lost in Ballets Russes, designed by Lara Barsacq, in connection with her great-great-uncle, the painter Léon Bakst. With his paintings in the background, she slips into the gestures of Vaslav Nijinski and Ida Rubinstein for which Maurice Ravel created Boléro in 1928. The one who, as a child, dreamed of a poster of Ida, made her her heroine : "She is a huge inspiration. She was a feminist who took risks, stripped herself in 1909! I'm shifting what she did, I dare to touch it to give it a place in history.” Lara Barsacq is currently completing a trio called IDA Don't Cry Me Love.
Rosita Boisseau, Le Monde, 20.06.19
Sometimes it all starts with a poster hanging on the kitchen wall. For Lara Barsacq, it was with a reproduction of a poster of the Ballets Russes, depicting the dancer Ida Rubinstein in full flight, loose hair, loose dress and bare legs, free. From this image of childhood, the choreographer undertakes to share with us a story that reveals the ways in which dance is entangled in her family history. By playing with the codes of performance, speaking in the first person and gradually revealing a scenographic richness, the dancer registers her own body in the flow of a story woven from small and big events. [ ] Lit in strong blue, red or green, the skillfully constructed paintings that make up Lost in Ballets Russes build a piece as memory would do: by arranging, organically and in movement, colors, textures, words, ghostly and real presences. And with the candles she burns or the glitter that she puts on, Lara Barsacq lights up little rituals throughout the room that burn like colored fires.
Marie Pons, Mouvement, 15.05.18
I find it exciting to immerse myself in a specific time in the history of dance and also in its historical context while seeking friction and re-ownership in the present moment. I like the friction of times and the improbability when it comes to make them coexist, to give them a whole new interpretation.
Lara Barsacq in conversation with Wilson Le Personnic, maculture.fr, 05.04.18