Carolyn Carlson b. 1943
Eau (2008)
Duration: 86 minutes

A masterpiece by Carolyn Carlson that met with success at its premiere at Lille Opera in April 2008, eau (water) is being danced again this season at Le Colisée. The ‘water lady' choreographer dances with all the fluidity, evanescence and sculptural qualities of water. A creative and a destructive force, it gushes, slides, waves and crystallises, continually reinventing its shape.

The theme of water is dear to Carolyn Carlson and crops up in many of her works, such as Still Waters, Writings on Water and Water Born. This time set to original music by Joby Talbot, the piece immerses into enveloping maternal waters, melancholic dreams, threatening pollution and violent seas. Mysterious and ambiguous, its cloudy reflections let the mind float towards buried thoughts and emotions. Sadness dissolves in it and water becomes tears, eliminating the salt of bitterness - an inseparable part of appreciating happiness. A fundamental element of life, it carries sensuality, desire and purity, sweeping the dancers along with unusual beauty. Alain Fleischer's watery mirrors let the world gaze at its own reflection and make water the eyes of the earth.