François Chaignaud Geoffroy Jourdain

Following on from t u m u l u s, François Chaignaud and Geoffroy Jourdain continue their exploration of Renaissance funeral chants, putting the audience at the very heart of the experience. This proximity means that the slightest breath, drop of sweat, or movement become sensory matter in which the celestial and the earthly intertwine.

The Festival d'Automne continues, for the third year in a row, its partnership with the Louvre Museum. Together, they have been building up a collection of new contemporary performances dedicated to the museum and its works. On the occasion of the 'Figures du fou. Du Moyen âge aux romantiques' exhibition, which explores the subversive value of the foolish or the nonsensical in medieval society, the dancer and choreographer François Chaignaud brings us Petites joueuses. In this piece, an immersive and uninterrupted journey through the medieval Louvre, mutant and resonant creatures take over its fortifications, giving rise to a somewhat disturbing carnival.

Sorour Darabi, the Iranian choreographer, who has been living in France since 2013, unveils his first opera, an ambulatory performance which enables voices marginalized by ancient myths to be heard. It is a piece devised by and for committed bodies.

Like descending into the darkest depths of hell, Carolina Bianchi exposes the unspeakable horror of sexist violence, plunging us into a median space in which all memory becomes blurred. Following in the footsteps of the artist Pippa Bacca, she uses her own body for the purposes of the piece, thereby anchoring herself in the history of feminist performance, and casting a critical gaze upon it at the same time.

Inspired by the work of Marcel Pagnol, this show explores the theme of escape. Some of the actors had their first experience of theatre at the Maison centrale d'Arles prison. Marius provides audiences with a unique opportunity to discover a little-known but crucial dimension of Joël Pommerat's art.

Brought to the stage by visual artist Théo Mercier, Skinless is a disenchanted Eden built on a landscape of rubbish. Amidst this XXL end-of-the-world panorama, an out of the ordinary couple loves and tears each other apart under the watchful eye of a tragic observer.

Directed by Romeo Castellucci, Gustav Mahler's Resurrection symphony seems to take on all its tragic grandeur. Masterfully conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Italian director magnifies this monumental work in order bring us a funereal “song of the earth” from which nobody emerges unscathed.

Following on from the Portrait dedicated to her by the Autumn Festival two years ago, Marlene Monteiro Freitas hijacks the match: twenty-five virtuoso performers, each wearing the same number 3 vests, throw the score into disarray, measure themselves against the grotesque and warp the game. This show sees the eccentric choreographer passing on to the Lyon Opera Ballet a jousting match of hybrid times, a carnivalesque fresco in which the human, animal and machine have a tendency to merge.