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DUBAI: This week, performers from British dance company Candoco, supported by French luxury jewelry brand Van Cleef & Arpels, took to the stage at New York University’s Abu Dhabi Arts Center.
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“Kandoko’s work expands the vocabulary of contemporary dance for performers with different movements, including those of determination,” Bill Bragin, executive artistic director of the NYU Center for the Arts, told Arab News. The introduction to Candoco and their work builds on the conversation about dance and disability that began with the first season of the Arts Center with Aakash Odedra Company.”
The show is the first in a series presented for the first time under the auspices of Van Cleef & Arpels’ Dance Reflections, a project launched by the fine jewelry house in autumn 2020 to reinforce its commitment to the arts, particularly Pay attention to dance.
Van Cleef & Arpels has been a big fan of dance since its founding in 1895. Those familiar with the French jewelry brand will recall its glamorous jeweled ballet brooches, inspired by some of the leading dancers of the 20th century, including New York City Ballet Principal Suzanne Farrell and Russian Anna Pavlova. Claude and Pierre Arpels are friends with George Balanchine, the Russian-born American ballet choreographer who is one of the most influential dancers of the last century. When Balanchine’s 1967 ballet “Jewelry” premiered in New York City, some journalists at the time said that Claude Appel approached Balanchine with the idea for a jewelry-inspired ballet.
Since fall 2020, the brand’s sponsorship of dance has focused on modern and contemporary dance repertoires, encouraging companies around the world to create new dance productions.
At the helm of Dance Reflections is Serge Laurent, Director of Dance and Culture at Van Cleef & Arpels, who has worked at the Centre Pompidou and the Fondation Cartier. He studied at the École du Louvre in Paris.
“The first thought was to continue writing the story of the brand and its strong connection to dance as an inspiration,” Laurent told Arab News. “We’re a company that’s built on tradition but is also very interested in new formats.”
The support and investment in dance by luxury brands is also a way of giving back to the art form and communities around the world.
“Dance brings all artistic disciplines together: it can incorporate music, plastic arts, clothing, lighting, set design, graphic design and even jewelry,” Laurent said in a statement. “It’s a fascinating art form and an incredible field of expression. That’s why it can appeal to such a wide audience. I want to encourage viewers to appreciate the work freely and without prejudice.”
Van Cleef & Arpels’ new sponsorship of Emirati dance comes at a time when the region’s dance scene is burgeoning but still in dire need of support – something Bragin and the NYU Center for the Arts are actively advocating.
“The aim of the Arts Centre is to build a contemporary dance audience in the UAE, expose them to world-class companies, provide training for local artists and open doors to a wider dialogue through the art form of dance,” Bragin said. “This new partnership with Van Cleef & Arpels’ Dance Reflection is particularly meaningful as it recognises the unique role the arts centre plays in developing the country’s dance ecosystem through display, commission, communication and education. Van Cleef & Arpels Van Cleef & Arpels has a century-long history of supporting and drawing inspiration from this art form. Our visions seem very organic together.”
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