5 min
The musical comedy LOVETRAIN2020, by Emanuel Gat, on an international tour
With LOVETRAIN2020, the Israeli choreographer Emanuel Gat has created an exhilarating musical comedy that uses songs by Tears for Fears for a stunning collective celebration. Presented in France and internationally, with the support of the Institut français, it also looks back at the pandemic years through a reinvention of choreographic movement.
Instant recognition
Choreographer and artistic director Emanuel Gat was born in Israel in 1969. He was introduced to dance at the age of 23, at a workshop led by the Israeli choreographer Nir Ben Gal. A few months later, he joined the Liat Dror Nir Ben Gal Company and took part in several international tours. His work as an independent choreographer began in 1994. He founded his own dance company, Emanuel Gat Dance, at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv in 2004. He achieved instant recognition right from his first pieces, from Winter Voyage, set to music by Schubert, to his personal interpretation of Stravinsky’s legendary Rite of Spring. Today, he is a regular guest choreographer at several institutions and presents his work at venues all around the world.
A dazzling musical comedy
LOVETRAIN2020, which takes the form of a contemporary musical comedy, is a piece created for fourteen dancers, set to music by the group Tears for Fears. This contemporary ode to the sound and atmosphere of the 1980s combines a series of pop hits with movement designed by Gat. The choreographer created this piece – which feels at once baroque and modern – entirely as a celebration of the body, of sensuality, love and performance.
A view of today’s world
Created during lockdown, LOVETRAIN2020 is a fireworks display of joy, expressiveness and complicity with the audience. The work strikes a perfect balance between an original soundtrack that everyone will be familiar with, a collection of spectacular costumes and dazzling, energetic choreography. The piece is an implicit illustration of today’s world, its doubts and misguided ways, while resonating powerfully with the lyrics of Tears for Fears’ songs. The dynamism and sense of chaos that emanate from the show are subtly nuanced by well-timed moments of melancholy.
A piece with national and international acclaim
LOVETRAIN2020 was performed for the first time in 2020 at the Agora, an international dance academy in Montpellier, marking the start of a particularly impressive trajectory in France and internationally. After a detour to Chaillot, in Paris, in 2021, the piece was widely shown throughout France before being presented in Italy and Germany. In December 2022, it made its début in America with a performance in New York. In the past year, with the support of the Institut français, LOVETRAIN2020 has been performed on stage in London, as well as at theatres in Bruges and Athens.