A world strained by crisis, exhaustion and uncertainty becomes the starting point for (LA)HORDE’s new creation, Après moi, le déluge (After me, the flood). Performed by twelve dancers from the Ballet national de Marseille, the work uses the body to confront social fears, power structures and collective exhaustion.
A world on the edge of collapse
The performance begins at a fragile threshold, as familiar structures seem to lose their footing. The dancers’ bodies collapse and come apart before the choreography fully takes shape, then move backwards through time towards a moment before catastrophe.
This return demands a rupture: the ground splits open, revealing a chasm from which hybrid, monstrous figures emerge, shaped by shared stories, silences and collective acts of renunciation. Their underground world mirrors contemporary structures of power, inheritance and domination, where care can become constraint and tenderness can turn into control.
Dance as a form of resistance
Since taking direction of the Ballet national de Marseille in 2019, (LA)HORDE has explored the tension between fragility, violence, intimacy and control. Following Room with a View and Age of Content, Après moi, le déluge continues this inquiry, using movement to challenge imposed narratives and expose the ways power enters everyday gestures.
Its monstrous figures embody fears and social structures already surrounding us, bringing them into view for confrontation. Charged with revolt, the work casts dance as a force capable of shaking an old order and making room for new possibilities.
‘Après moi, le déluge’ on Tour
Following its presentation by the Ballet national de Marseille, Après moi, le déluge tours Europe through 2026 and 2027. Upcoming dates include Festival Romaeuropa, Rome (October 1–4); Mercat de les Flors, Barcelona (October 9–11); Central, La Louvière (November 6–8); deSingel, Antwerp (November 13–15); and Les Théâtres, Aix-en-Provence (December 10–12).
In 2027, the tour continues to Amsterdam, Geneva, Grenoble, Lyon, Porto and Madrid, among other cities.
Discover our conversation with (LA)HORDE’s Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and Arthur Harel as they discuss the links between poetry and choreography, emotion and physicality, and the role of political and philosophical ideas in their work.
