Extreme sports meets dance

Diavolo, the acclaimed Los Angeles dance company, combines bold movement with the adventurous, high-wire attitude of extreme sports. In October, Diavolo will bring its dynamic and wittily subversive choreography to Washington University’s Edison Theatre.

Performances — sponsored by the Edison Theatre OVATIONS! Series — begin at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28 and 29. Tickets are $28; $24 for seniors and Washington University faculty and staff; and $18 for students and children.

In addition, Diavolo will present an all-ages matinee as part of the ovations! for young people series at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29. Tickets are $7.

Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. Tickets are available at the Edison Theatre Box Office and through all MetroTix outlets. For more information, call (314) 935-6543.

Led by Paris-born choreographer Jacques Heim — who recently choreographed KA, Cirque du Soleil’s newest permanent show — Diavolo examines the funny and often frightening ways individuals interact with their environments. Outrageous, surrealistic sets become launching pads for dramatic, athletic movements – leaping, flying, twirling — that bring new life to everyday items such as doors, chairs and stairways.

“Although no two Diavolo pieces are created identically, they do always start with a passionate idea,” said Heim. Inspiration might be an “artwork that moved me … or an exchange I watched between two people on the street.” Heim then creates a set, “its architectural qualities, its geometric shapes and its mechanical functionality,” upon which the 10-member company — comprised of dancers, gymnasts, actors and athletes — begins to develop the piece.

“At first we go through a period of improvisation during which I ask each of the performers to live with the set, to see what their body is telling them, find out what kinds of movement are possible,” Heim continued. He then begins to shape and edit those movements, polishing sequences and characterizations “in the manner of a collage” while gradually adding costumes, lighting and music. “In the end, what you see on stage are the combined contributions of the entire company.”

It’s been a successful recipe. Shortly after its founding, in 1992, Diavolo earned both a Martha Hill Choreography Award from the American Dance Festival and a Special Prize of the Jury at the 6th Saitama International Dance Festival in Saitama, Japan. Los Angeles Times dance critic Lewis Segal wrote that the company’s L.A. premiere “establishes [Heim] as a creative force in the community, someone with both a compelling vision and the ability to inspire others to uncompromising performances.”

In 1993 Diavolo was nominated for two Lester Horton Awards and in 1995 made its European debut at the Edinburgh Festival, where it was named “Best of the Fest” by The London Independent and “Critic’s Choice” by The Guardian. The company also received three Lester Horton Awards in 1995 for the work Tete en L’Air. Subsequent honors include multiple Lester Horton Awards as well as nominations for the 1996 and 2000 CalArts/Alpert Awards in the Arts for Dance.

In 1997 the Los Angeles Times named Heim one of its “Faces to Watch in the Arts,” while Buzz Magazine called him one of the “100 Coolest People in LA.” In 1999 he received a James Irvine Foundation Fellowship in choreography as well as a Fellowship from the Brody Arts Fund.

In 2001 Heim was one of three choreographers chosen to create a piece for the Ballet Pacifica Annual Choreographic Workshop. Cirque du Soleil’s KA, which features more than 80 performers, premiered earlier this year at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Edison Theatre

Edison Theatre’s OVATIONS! Series serves both Washington University and the St. Louis community by providing the highest caliber national and international artists in music, dance and theater, performing new works as well as innovative interpretations of classical material not otherwise seen in St. Louis. Focusing on presentations that are interdisciplinary, multicultural and/or experimental, Edison Theatre presents work intended to challenge, educate and inspire.

Edison Theatre programs are made possible with support from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; the Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis; and private contributions.