After working with scores by Pierre Boulez, Rebecca Saunders and Gat himself for Story Water, his last production for Festival d’Avignon 2018, Emanuel Gat pursues his long time exploration of the meeting points between the choreographic and the musical, the visual and the auditory, and the potentials they hold for observation, study and story telling.

LOVETRAIN2020 unfolds within this charged space of references, counterpoints and endless possibilities, where movement and sound interact to once again, and from a different angle, reveal the obvious yet almost transparent layers in which people come together, drift apart, push and pull, question, resolute and move
forward.

A contemporary “Musical”, LOVETRAIN2020 will call upon the wonderful music of the 80s British duo Tears for Fears (Mad world, Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule The World, Change, Sowing The Seeds Of Love and many other incredible hits from that glorious decade). A choreographic ode to the sound and vibe of the 80s, as embodied in the music of Tears for Fears, with its utopic drive and epic groove.

LOVETRAIN2020 was awarded best dance performance of the season 20-21 by the French professional syndicate of theatre, music and dance criticism.

Internationally renowned choreographer, Emanuel Gat creates each of his works in close collaboration with the dancers of his company, and deploys an intimate dialogue between choreography and music.

Since the creation of his first solo in 1994, Four Dances, to the music by Johann Sebastian Bach, he has collaborated with many institutions around the world, and worked with prestigious international companies.

He founded his company Emanuel Gat Dance in 2004 and created pieces that enjoyed international success, among which “Winter Voyage” and “The Rite of Spring », which received a Bessy Award in 2006.

After settling in France in 2007, he was named associated artist to the Montpellier Danse Festival in 2013 and from 2016 to 18, when he created, among others “The Goldlandbergs” and “SUNNY”. He was also associated artist to Chaillot in Paris for the seasons 2018-21.

In 2018, Gat collaborated with the prestigious Ensemble Modern Frankfurt to create “Story Water” at the Cour d’Honneur of Festival d’Avignon.

In the midst of 2020 pandemic, Gat created “LOVETRAIN2020”, which received the prize of best dance performance of the year in France. In 2021, he created “Act II&III or the Unexpected Return of Heaven and Earth”, set to Puccini’s “Tosca”. He is preparing a new piece for 2024, “Freedom Sonata”, a free, contemporary take on the classic musical sonata form.

Gat is regularly invited by companies and dance institutions for which he creates or transmits pieces: Sydney Dance Company, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Los Angeles Dance Project, Royal Swedish Ballet, Cedar Lake (NY), Vancouver Ballet British Columbia, Scottish Dance Theater and Staatsballett Berlin, Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet du Rhin, Ballet National de Marseille, Ballet de Lorraine and Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon.

During his entire career, Gat has developed a rich methodological set of tools and an original pedagogical approach to dance making. He is regularly invited to teach and collaborate with the world’s leading dance schools and institutions, and in parallel, offers through Emanuel Gat Dance regular options for young dancers to immerse themselves in his practice, through internships, workshops and master classes.

Music Tears For Fears
Ideas as Opiates, The Prisoner, The Working Hour (piano version), Mad World, Pale Shelter, Memories Fade, The Way You Are, Listen, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Shout, Famous Last Words, Sowing the Seeds of Love

Choreography & Lights Emanuel Gat
Costume Design Thomas Bradley
Costume Construction Thomas Bradley, Wim Muyllaert
Created with and performed by Eglantine Bart, Tara Dalli, Noé Girard, Nikoline Due Iversen, Gilad Jerusalmy, Péter Juhasz, Michael Loehr, Emma Mouton, Rindra Rasoaveloson, Abel Rojo Pupo, Karolina Szymura, Sara Wilhelmsson
Technical Direction & Light Supervision Guillaume Février
Sound Frédéric Duru
Wardrobe Marie-Pierre Calliès

Production Emanuel Gat Dance: Marjorie Carré, Mélanie Bichot
Coproduction Festival Montpellier Danse 2020, Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse, Arsenal Cité Musicale – Metz, Theater Freiburg, with the support of Romaeuropa Festival

Fundings & Supports Emanuel Gat Dance acknowledges the support of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, and DRAC Provence Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Région Sud – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Conseil Départemental des Bouches-du- Rhône. LOVETRAIN2020 receives the support of Institut Français for its international tours. Created at Agora – cité internationale de la danse in Montpellier