Cancelled: From a French Horizon – the Swedish Ballet in Paris

Creation, ice dancing and death for cello and piano.

Exactly 100 years ago today, the Swedish Ballet in Paris gave its first ever performance. For five intense years, this experimental dance company found itself at the heart of Parisian cultural life.

At this concert, pianist Leif Kaner-Lidström and cellist and composer Mats Lidström will perform the music from their much-discussed performances, including Swedish Viking Dahl’s music to Maison de fous – The Madhouse – with sets by Nils Dardel, whose best-known painting, The Dying Dandy, inspired this piece by cellist and composer Mats Lidström. We will also hear music by Darius Milhaud, who was deeply influenced by jazz in La création du monde – The World’s Creation. They have also used music by Tailleferre, Honegger and Cole Porter, who lived in Paris at the time.

One of the most acclaimed performances by the Swedish Ballet was Relâche with music by Erik Satie and set design by Francis Picabia. Between the two acts, a film by René Clair was shown in which Picabia, Satie, Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp played themselves.