By Lucy Komisar

I love tango, but I’ve never seen a tango performance like this. French choreographer Ariane Liautaud takes the iconic Argentine tango as a muse, but challenges its limit to couples dancing à deux.

A ballet that begins with the “Moonlight Sonata,” with slow kicks and points, moves to tango rhythms.

There is the traditional couples tango. But then there’s a ballet lift.

And then more bodies move together. And the lift is different.

Tango steps and music inspire a gorgeous modern dance ballet of three men and two women, including Liautaud.

Liautaud calls “Last Birds” a philosophical tale about human relationships and social connections. It breaks the sensual myth of the tango couple.

“The step of two is broken down through multiple contact in steps of three, four or even five dancers. It is no longer just a connection between two bodies, but between a multiplicity of bodies.”

The bodies move together, but not two by two. As Ariane Liautaud and her dancers present it, and this production shows, the tango idiom is perfect for modern ballet. I still love traditional tango, but Liautaud expands its visual and dance limits in a way both tango and ballet admirers should love. See the Video.

“Last Birds.” Tangoart Company, France. Le Théâtre Golovine, 1bis rue Sainte-Catherine, Avignon. Conception and choreography Ariane Liautaud. Dancers Ariane Liautaud, Damien Orsal, Eneas Vaca Buelo, Karim El Toukhi, and alternately Clara Leymonie or Florencia Segura. Runtime 1hr10min. July 2 to 21, 2024. The Video. Festival OFF Avigon.