Since his first acquaintance with René Magritte as a young teenager in Brussels, Olivier has been drawn to the open-ended mystery of Surrealist painting, its metaphors, poetry and puzzles. A fitting lens through which to see Saint-Exupéry and The Little Prince, whose riddles and layers of meaning are a large part of the book’s universal and enduring appeal.
Magritte’s famous painting ‘This is not a pipe’ (Ceci n’est pas une pipe) calls attention to the fact that no artistic rendering—however precisely detailed and ‘realistic’—is real. It is always only a rendition, an interpretation of the subject through the mind of the painter, and the beholder.
In the same spirit, This Is Not The Little Prince does not attempt to translate The Little Prince word-for-word in dance, but rather to tell a human story of self-discovery by delving into the rich understory of influences and connections in the life and mind of Antoine Saint-Exupéry that led to the writing of his most famous book.
Whim W’Him created this program as a way to prioritize the health of its artists and the community, while supporting ways for dance artists, students and audiences to come together while staying apart.