From Giselle’s ghostly Wilis to Martha Graham’s choruses of women, dance has given us plenty of memorable sisterhoods. 2025’s Imminentes, by Jann Gallois, initially looks twee by comparison. As the six dancers enter, they link arms and beam beatifically at each other, in a show of generic goodness that would have most siblings running for the hills.
It gets better when Gallois lets choreography do the talking. The first half of Imminentes, a long crescendo set to an original score by Patrick De Oliveira, builds rippling patterns out of their interactions, slowly weaving small groups into a larger-scale tableaux. As the partnering grows more physical, the women’s trust and solidarity feel more real, too.
Gallois could have easily stopped at the climax. Later sequences offer strength devoid of vulnerability: the women face the audience to a pounding beat, their arms darting in sync. Sorority is more fraught than this, and Imminentes is at its best when it leans into that complexity. ●
Laura Cappelle’s trip to Montpellier was supported by Agora, Cité Internationale de la Danse
