Van Cleef & Arpels light up London with the Dance Reflections festival

Van Cleef & Arpels’ association with the world of dance can be traced right back to the early days, when ballet fan Louis Arpels was a regular visitor to the Paris Opera during the 1920s. It was a passion soon translated into jewellery, with the first ballet clips appearing in the 1940s. With a distinctive rose-cut diamond face, jewelled ballet dancers were wreathed in tulles of colourful precious stones.

In 2022, Van Cleef & Arpels nodded to the maison’s links with choreography first established in the partnership with George Balanchine, co-founder of the New York City Ballet, in the 1960s, with the first edition of the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival in London. Now it returns, bigger and better than ever, with a line-up of exciting events across Sadler’s Wells, Royal Ballet and Opera, Tate Modern and Southbank Centre.

‘When I joined the maison, we really started Dance Reflections from zero,’ says Serge Laurent, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Director of Dance and Culture Programs. ‘It was really an adventure, because there was no name, no logo, no team. We decided the idea was first to create a festival in London, and we really wanted to support dance companies and to support institutions to present the works. Now, within three and a half years, we have 60 different partners in 16 different countries. It's really an ambitious project.’

Traditional and contemporary cultures combine in this year’s ambitious programme, composed of performances, dance workshops and artist forums. Excitingly eclectic events, from François Gremaud revisit of the classic Giselle (1841), to Shu Lea Cheang and Dondon Hounwn’s staging of Hagay Dreaming at the Tate Modern and Noé Soulier’s interpretation of dance through video, sit alongside major pieces from George Balanchine’s repertoire - Serenade (1935), Prodigal Son (1929) and Symphony in C (1947).

‘As a curator, it's very exciting to explore this vision of dance,’ Laurent adds. ‘We propose to the audience that the selection of works is like a journey. We select many different performers but they all have a common point. They all found their own voice. In each era, you have some artists who are inventing something, which I respect very much. Pushing the limits is sometimes shocking. As a curator, I try to identify even very young artists, who are contributing to that evolution. It's very important for me.’

Dance Reflections takes place across London until April 8

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