Clément Cogitore: Bridging Baroque and Street Dance in Les Indes Galantes at Joslyn Art Museum
Exhibition
Clément Cogitore (French, b. 1983), Les Indes Galantes, 2017, color video, 6 min. Production: Opéra national de Paris – 3° scène / Les Films Pélléas. Choreography: Brahim Rachiki, Igor Carouge, Bintou Dembele. Courtesy of the artist, Chantal Crousel Consulting, Paris (FR) and Reinhard Hauff Gallery, Stuttgart (DE)
Clément Cogitore’s “Les Indes Galantes” at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha presents a dynamic fusion of historical and contemporary art forms. Drawing on the music and title of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s 1735 opera-ballet, Cogitore delves into themes of ritual and collective memory, linking the past with the present.
The work spotlights a pivotal moment in history—a 1725 meeting between six Native American tribal chiefs and King Louis XV—infused with a modern twist. The chiefs’ traditional dances are reimagined through K.R.U.M.P, a dance style that emerged in Los Angeles in the 1990s. The film immerses audiences in this vibrant cultural exchange, blending Baroque music with the high-energy, expressive movements of K.R.U.M.P. Captured from multiple vantage points, the performance highlights the power of ritual across generations, races, and ethnicities, forging a compelling connection between two distinct worlds.
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