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Jacques Heim was born in Paris. He earned
a BFA in Theatre, Dance and Film from Middlebury College, and
then was awarded a Certificate for Analysis and Criticism of
Dance from the University of Surrey in England. Heim moved
to Los Angeles in 1989 and attended California Institute for
the Arts, receiving an MFA in Choreography.
 In 1992, Heim founded
Diavolo Dance Theater. Heim received the 1992 Martha Hill Choreography
Award by the American Dance
Festival, and the 1992 Special Prize of the Jury at the 6th
Saitama International Dance Festival in Saitama, Japan. He
was nominated for the 1996 and 2000 CalArts/Alpert Awards in
the Arts for Dance. In 1998 and 1999 Heim was nominated for
a Lester Horton award for Best Choreography.
In 1999, Heim received a James Irvine
Foundation Fellowship in choreography, and a Fellowship from
the Brody Arts Fund.
In the summer of 2001, Heim was one of three choreographers
chosen to create a piece for the Ballet Pacifica Annual Choreographic
Workshop. He has been named one of the “Faces to Watch
in the Arts” by the LA Times and one of the “100
Coolest People in LA” by Buzz Magazine. Heim recently
completed several years teaching Intensive Movement for Actors
at UCLA, and Cal State LA.
Currently, Heim is choreographing
the newest permanent show for Cirque du Soleil, which will
premiere in April of 2004 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
What is Diavolo?
As modern
society grows dense with new technologies and marvelous possibilities,
the everyday act of survival seems increasingly
fraught with danger and anxiety. Diavolo investigates the
latent absurdities of contemporary human life and recontextualizes
them through the body, exploring the influences of environment,
possessions and relationships. Our aim is to capture and
comment upon the ironic and frequently humorous patterns,
as well as the darker consequences, of human behavior. About
Diavolo’s Work
A word about
the process we go through creating our pieces… Although
no two pieces evolve identically, I have developed
a method of working over the years. To begin with, I decide
on an idea for the set. Whether found or constructed, it
is selected based on its role in our lives, its architectural
qualities - as landscape and as object - its geometric shape(s),
its mechanical functionality. In short: there is something
striking about it that compels exploration--a discovery of
the myriad ways in which it influences our behavior. Once we
decide on the set, the choreographic process is truly collaborative,
with the sculptor/set designer and the performers
all contributing their own
input. At first we go through a period of improvisation during which I ask
each of the performers to live with the set, to see what their
body is telling them,
find out what kinds of movement are possible-- individually and with one another.
The sculptor/set de-signers remain involved throughout, contributing input
of their own and making adjustments as necessary.
Following
this period of initial improvisation I begin to shape and
edit the piece around the individuality of the performers and
their
contributions. Only
at this point do we establish what the piece is 'about.' This is largely
a subconscious, visceral interpretation based on how our bodies
relate to one
another and the
set, and how these discoveries relate to our lives. Organic characterizations
and sequences are developed and assembled in the manner of a collage with
added input from the costume and lighting designers. The final
stage is incorporating
the music composers once the piece is nearly done, treating the music and
percussion as a score, and frequently having them play the
set as an instrument. In the
end, what you see on stage are the combined contributions of the entire company.
You are encouraged to give us feedback about your experience.
–Jacques
Heim A Brief History
Diavolo
company members are dancers, gymnasts, actors, athletes… and
always teammates. Under the guidance of artistic director Jacques
Heim, they collaboratively
develop work on oversized surrealistic sets and structures. Everyday items…doors,
chairs, stairways, provide the backdrop for dramatic movement – leaping,
flying, twirling, to create metaphors for the challenge of relationships, the
absurdities of life and the struggle to maintain our humanity in the shadow of
a technological world.
Diavolo was founded in 1992 in Los Angeles
by artistic director Jacques Heim. In 1993, the young company
was nominated for two Lester
Horton awards in Los
Angeles, and in 1995, Diavolo made its European debut at the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival where they were named “Best of the Fest” by the London Independent
and Critic’s Choice by The Guardian. Also in 1995, the company received
three Lester Horton awards for the work Tete en L’Air . Since then, the
company has been nominated several times for numerous awards, and just received
four more awards at the 2001 Lester Horton Awards ceremony. In 1998, the company
opened the performance series at the new Getty Center Museum in Los Angeles.
1999 saw the creation of Diavolo’s first full-evening length work: Catapult
which also coincided with Diavolo’s first full North American tour. During
the summer of 2001, Diavolo was able to invite Jelon Viera, Artistic Director
of Dance Brazil and the Capoeria Foundation, to Los Angeles to conduct an intensive
capoeria workshop with the company. In the spring of 2002, Diavolo created second
smaller company to perform in a cabaret-style show which ran for 8 weeks at the
New Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. Currently, Diavolo Artistic Director
Jacques Heim is choreographing the newest permanent show for Cirque du Soleil,
which will premiere in April of 2004 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. The
2004–05 season marks Diavolo’s sixth National tour.
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