4 Danced Seasons Hip-Hop and Classical Music!
Hip-hop
Peralada, Spain, Aug 3 (EFE).- By David Álvarez
A production that fuses hip-hop with Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” is challenging long-held boundaries between classical music and urban dance, as French choreographer Mourad Merzouki returned to Spain’s Peralada Festival with his award-winning 4 Danced Seasons.
Eight years after captivating audiences at the Catalan festival with Folia, Merzouki once again challenged conventional distinctions between music and dance, demonstrating how classical performance and contemporary choreography can coexist in a seamless dialogue.
The musical dimension of the production is entrusted to Le Concert de la Loge, conducted by violinist Julien Chauvin, whose ensemble performs Vivaldi’s Baroque masterpiece live on stage.
Alongside them, dancers from Merzouki’s Käfig company transform the nearly 300-year-old score into a vibrant display of hip-hop and contemporary movement, revealing the enduring vitality of the music.
Living up to Folia
Folia left a lasting impression when it premiered at Peralada in 2018, earning widespread acclaim from the festival’s discerning audiences.
Judging by the reception to 4 Danced Seasons, Merzouki has once again lived up to those high expectations.
The performance also carries symbolic weight for the festival, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Bringing back Merzouki, born in Lyon to Algerian parents and regarded as one of Europe’s leading choreographers, underscores Peralada’s commitment to innovative programming.
Demand for the production was so strong that the festival scheduled two performances.
A shared stage
One of the production’s defining features is the way musicians and dancers occupy the stage as equals.
Rather than altering Vivaldi’s score, the choreography embraces its rhythms and emotional shifts, highlighting the timeless quality of Baroque music and its ability to inspire contemporary movement.
The interaction extends beyond accompaniment. Chauvin, who both conducts and performs on the violin, becomes an active participant in the performance, ending the evening as physically engaged as the dancers themselves.
The result is a compelling argument for dissolving traditional artistic boundaries and allowing different disciplines to enrich one another.
Award-winning production
The artistic ambition of 4 Danced Seasons earned it the 2025 Opus Klassik Award for Innovative Concert of the Year, making it a fitting highlight of Peralada’s anniversary edition.
The festival has increasingly embraced experimental productions, as seen earlier this season with Aleix Martínez’s NIU, another work that challenged audiences’ expectations.
Where Martínez collaborated with young dancers and members of the Hamburg Ballet, Merzouki demonstrates that Vivaldi’s music can provide the backdrop for hip-hop movement, freestyle battles and contemporary choreography without losing its original identity.
The result is a performance that refreshes the Baroque repertoire while affirming the place of urban dance on one of Spain’s leading festival stages, combining classical tradition with modern expression in a production that feels both innovative and accessible. EFE
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