Invited to the Palais Garnier for the first time, the choreographer Alexander Ekman is living in a dream: that of working with the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet! In order to plunge them into the universe of his piece, he invited them to play. After all, isn’t dance also entertainment, amusement, practice, exercise and manipulation? Here, play is everything and everywhere. From the props to the sets. For, as the choreographer repeats, play makes us happy; one should never stop being a child.

🩰🦢 Dive into Thursday, just like the swans of the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet performing A Swan Lake by Alexander Ekman! 🩰🦢 https://cutt.ly/K9b9ZQF | medici.tv

[sound on] Balletography by Alexander Ekman (@ekman) Co-produced for Daniil Simkin’s INTENSIO by the Joyce Theater (@joycetheater) and Sunny Artist Management. Co-commissioned by and filmed at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (@jacobspillow) July 2015 | Daniil Simkin

31K views · 2.4K reactions | [sound on] Balletography by Alexander Ekman (@ekman) Co-produced for Daniil Simkin’s INTENSIO by the Joyce Theater (@joycetheater) and Sunny Artist Management. Co-commissioned by and filmed at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (@jacobspillow) July 2015 | Daniil Simkin | Facebook

73K views · 3.7K reactions | [sound on] Balletography by Alexander Ekman (@ekman) Co-produced for Daniil Simkin’s INTENSIO by the Joyce Theater (@joycetheater) and Sunny Artist Management. Co-commissioned by and filmed at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (@jacobspillow) July 2015 | Daniil Simkin | Facebook