PARADE is an on-site parade project for the students of the Pantin Conservatory, conceived as part of the Cultural Olympiad and the project ‘On ne va pas se défiler’ with the CN D of Pantin.

A staple of sporting, festive, or military events, a parade moves a group of people in procession in an ostentatious manner. Relying on visual spectacle and self-promotion, the parade is a moving display. When it’s a sporting parade, it becomes a space of pride, symbols, flags waving in the wind, unity, and organized rhythms. Its spectacular and authoritative nature raises questions. What is it truly meant to showcase or demonstrate? The Parade project aims to explore the imagination surrounding sporting parades and unravel their intersections.

This performance “takes its place” directly within the urban space and draws from the reflections that have fueled the company’s work since its inception: physical performance and the deconstruction of virtuosic gestures inspired by the world of sports. It invites reflection on the qualities of athletic gestures in their many facets—expressiveness, achievements, spontaneity, or codification—and explores the ways in which dance can borrow patterns from other gestural vocabularies, in this case, sports. This approach seeks to multiply perspectives, creating new ways to see, express, and connect dance and sports.

The parade took place on June 23 between Aubervilliers and Pantin.