Le do(s) transfiguré

Agnès Letestu, Principal dancer at the Opéra national de Paris
Edna Stern, Concert pianist
Vincent Chaillet, Principal dancer at the Opéra national de Paris

Agnès Letestu and Edna Stern chat…
Edna Stern: “It will be like a string of dreams. Strings of music and dance that take turns and take us to the fantasy world of dreams.”
Agnès Letestu: “An ensemble that makes us dive into a universe where musical and choreographic elements transform and whose transfiguration takes us towards new visions.”
Edna: “Yes, like in life: we dream of something and it transforms into an element that takes us to another dream. For example, we browse a book and all of a sudden, the words start to dance and become dancers in a masked ball. We end up in Venice!”
Agnès: “And this element of transfiguration in music, how exactly does it express itself?”
Edna: “By the note C [Do in French]. Everything starts from this point, with a perfect chord starting with Bach’s C minor. Each composer will bring his own vision and influence to this element.”
Agnès: “The transfigured C note [Le do(s) transfiguré]”

Edna Stern and her friend the dancer Agnès Letestu have imagined a poetic show, a dialogue between music and dance, illustrating through movement: Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Galuppi, Debussy and Ravel through a succession of paintings choreographed by Bruno Bouché, Jean-Claude Gallota, José Martinez, Florent Melac and Vincent Chaillet. Agnes Letestu also created the costumes of the show, with lighting by Tom Klefstad.

Agnès Letestu became a Principal dancer in 1997. Main interpreter for many of the big roles from classical repertoire, she has also excelled in the works of Balanchine, Carlson, Ek, Forsythe, Kylian, Lacotte, Lifar, McGregor, Nureyev and Robbins. In parallel to her dancing career, she has also designed costumes for the creations by José Martinez, Patrick De Bana and Heinz Spoerli. Letestu is a Knight of both the French Legion of Honour and the National Order of Merit and Commander of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Pianist Edna Stern's 14 discs have all been acclaimed by critics: "Her piano playing bears the mark of the three great pianists who shaped her and whose improbable synthesis she has achieved: the panache of Martha Argerich, the musicality of Leon Fleisher and the impeccable finish of Krystian Zimerman" Jérôme Bastianneli, Diapason Magazine

Born in Metz, Vincent Chaillet trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School, and in 2009, he became Principal dancer. Having caught the eye of renowned choreographers such as Pina Bausch, he performed in leading roles in numerous prestigious productions, and in 2011 was selected for the Prix Benoit. He writes and directs shows, and is the artistic director of the festival Les Synoades since 2007.