DANCING WITH CALDER: CHRISTINE DAKIN ON BRINGING MARTHA GRAHAM TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE

Dakin: “I can’t believe the opportunity to engage with the different art works, it’s such a privilege to be in dialogue with Giacomettis in the courtyard. A thrilling opportunity but also slightly terrifying as it actually is Giacometti’s Standing Man!” She explained to me, “It’s so exciting, as each moment is a collaboration between the Martha Graham technique and these great artists. I certainly have a sense that Martha will be looking over my shoulder as I am dancing with the wonderful Calder sculpture.” We pause to speculate with wonder as to how long that collaboration will take, a moment, and how it will exist in history as a memory or as an invisible patina of creative energy to this already incredible space.

“When the project came to me, I got very excited about the beauty and the art in this place. It’s all so extraordinary that I got the idea to make the performance moving; a peregrination.”

As we talked, Dakin explained to me that she was so thrilled to be asked to do the project because of the nature of the Foundation, which, for those who have not yet visited, is literally created out of art by friends and artists of the art dealer Aimé Maeght, the first, and many would argue the finest, of all art foundations. Dakin has thoughtfully choreographed this performance so that she and her four dancers are actually responding to the various artworks in this “peregrination.”

Dakin flew into the South of France on Sunday and had been acclimatising to the weather and wonderful energy of the place: “I am loving the views.” She continues, “There is a primal and ancient energy to this place. It informed the art created, and this chimes so well with the physical, psychological, emotional vibration of our discipline. The audience will move with the performance; they will become part of it.”

As we discuss the potential for dance frozen in time to slip from performance into sculpture and back again, it is electric.

At 77, she is fully aware of how lucky she is to have the opportunity to perform in this space with such an intimate audience. “In some ways doing this kind of show is more exciting than the bigger venues we have done, we will certainly be more available to the audience.”

The performance is intense and immediate, and of course asking a lot of questions about what art is and is not, and the temporality of dance is offset by the permanence of the space; there is indeed an ancient quality to this place, as though it has been here forever. This, combined with the beauty of the summer night in the Côte d’Azur with its own special allure, will make for a magical experience.

There has been some speculation about the future of the company in The New Yorker, and Dakin diplomatically states in French, “C’est compliqué,” focusing instead on her deep sense of commitment as the artistic director to keep the company alive. When we discuss what it’s like to dance at 77, the answer is clear: it’s the same as dancing for all the years that came before, and I sense her discipline, determination, and commitment underneath her professionalism.

“Of course, in order to continue to perform, I have to adjust to experience things in a different way; that is part of the challenge, but that is part of the allure of the technique; it is so organic and individual.”