Boris Charmatz explores the idea of somnolence – the feeling of being on the brink of sleep. After a series of group performances and collective events, and in contrast to his work infini, he returns to the minimalist format of dance solos.

Accompanied only by the sheer sound of whistling, melodies surface, blend and break apart. The relationship between the sound and the movement is in turn deliberate, halting, sleepy and acute.

SOMNOLE is a vaporous dance that unites familiar melodies and slumberous gestures. Like a body seeking sleep, Boris Charmatz invents an insomniac dance, a refuge of rhythms and refrains at the frontier between wakefulness and sleep.

Part of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival

Image description: A bare-chested man in his forties turns to look towards us. He has tousled brown curls and a beard and moustache. Two fingers are lifted to his lips, as if he’s about to whistle; his other hand is raised, the fingers splayed wide away from us.

Co-presented by Sadler’s Wells and Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
Header image © Marc Domage