Preljocaj’s ‘La Stravaganza’ to restage at Opera House

Last May, renowned French choreographer of Albanian origin Angelin Preljocaj was awarded the Nation’s Honour presidential order for representing the best of Albania’s values in choreography internationally.
TIRANA, Oct. 2 – Five months after its stage as an Albania-French collaboration, Angjelin Preljocaj’s “La Stravaganza” is being restaged by soloists of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet. After its first show on Sept. 30, the ballet is also scheduled to stage on October 3 and 5 at 19.00.
Last May, renowned French choreographer of Albanian origin Angelin Preljocaj was awarded the Nation’s Honour presidential order for representing the best of Albania’s values in choreography internationally and making everyone proud of being Albanian.
La Stravaganza, a show created by Preljocaj in 1997 for the New York City Ballet, will be a recreation of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet featuring Albanian ballet dancers. Preljocaj has described the show as inspired by his personal and double Albanian-French background. A multilayered work, the avant garde La Stravaganza juxtaposes 17th-century sensibility with modern culture while contrasting classical and electronic accompaniment.
Since founding Ballet Preljocaj in 1985, Angelin Preljocaj has created 45 choreographic works, ranging from solos to larger formations. The company performs internationally and at home in France where it is recognized as one of the country’s leading dance companies.
“Born in Paris just five days after his parents escaped from communist Albania, Preljocaj felt French while at school and Albanian when at home with his parents and their tight-knit community of Albanian friends,” The Guardian writes about him.
In 1992, Preljocaj, now an internationally famous representative of the Albanian diaspora, was invited back to the newly democratised country, and taken by presidential helicopter to his parents’ mountain village. His choreographic work is steeped in his writing of the history of classical ballet, but is resolutely contemporary. He is considered one of the most important choreographers of dance today. He joined the repertoire of the Ballet de l’Op곡 national de Paris in the early 1990s and has headed the company since 1985.
In 1995, he received the Prix Benois de la Danse as choreographer. Preljocaj, subsequently renamed Ballet Preljocaj, has been in residence at the Black Hall of Aix-en-Provence since 1996.