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IMPRESSIONS: "Nature of a Fall" (World Premiere) by Adi Boutrous at Théâtre des Abbesses
By Ann Moradian
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Published on February 26, 2026
"Nature of a Fall" by Adi Boutrous. Photo by Ascaf
Nature of a Fall (World Premiere)
Choreography and sound score: Adi Boutrous
Dancers: Ido Barak, Neshama Bazer, Naomi Ben David, Adi Boutrous, Stav Struz Boutrous, Uri Dicker
Lighting: Ofer Laufer
Costumes: Stav Struz Boutrous
Théâtre des Abbesses at Théâtre de la Ville, Paris
February 4 - 7, 2026
In Adi Boutrous’ Nature of a Fall, the piece begins with the sound of the wind. Two women hug, then slowly sink as one yields to the weight of the other. Their bodies roll slowly over one another. One dancer walks along the belly of another, and they too melt toward the ground. One by one, slowly, always nested within their intimate group, they lean and yield, roll and recover. It looks a lot like Contact Improvisation.
The ensemble work is quietly spectacular. Wearing simple street clothes, the dancers walk to get from one place to another. Unless, of course, they are falling or rolling. There is no set and the lighting is simple. The 420-seat Théâtre des Abbesses is perfect for this dance. We are close enough to the performers that our bodies can feel with theirs the care, the weight, the sense of listening through the skin.
They explore a myriad of combinations and possibilities without fanfare. A dancer springs to land, legs catching the neck of another before they descend together to the floor. A handstand topples, carving a grand arc through space. A seated pivot on the back of one dancer rolls into a suspended jump, that turns out to be yet another way to fall. Everything keeps collapsing. Each dancer is alone, fully present, yet they are totally attuned and with one another too. They move like different parts of a single, unified organism.
The dancers begin to run, but this deep listening remains as speed and velocity increase. The vulnerability, care and strength of these dancers is palpable, and absolutely necessary for this dance. Standing high atop another dancer, one man springs, flying through the air headfirst, arms along his sides, to be caught by the others. A man drags a woman across the floor by her feet. As she arches, everything shifts and she is standing on his hips as he hinges back. Suddenly she is upside down, legs long and stretched straight up to the sky.
A dancer plows his head into the belly of another, pushing the whole group back into the corner. Two men merge to create a four-legged creature with two tails and no head. A woman climbs up gently, hooking her knees over the hips on one end. Maybe she is a satyr. This too veers to the side and they topple in slow motion. They do not recover. One woman watches. The others have already left. Eventually, she follows them out. We are left with the sound of the wind. They are done.
Adi Boutrous is Arab, Christian and Israeli. The program notes refer to a loss of values in a conflict-driven environment and the need to learn how to live together, but I got no sense of context, story or social message. Their bodies are the material and the metaphor. The interaction is the thing. As soon as they recover from the previous fall, they have already begun the next engagement. In this world, everything begins collapsing as soon as it has formed, as if they stand on shifting sand.
