The exhibition
The visit is divided into four sections based on four movements – jump, turn, walk and come together – finishing with a moment for quiet reflection: rest. Dynamic and rhythmic sequences are followed by more contemplative, inward-looking moments when children can become more aware of their own bodies, their capacities and limits. The exhibition’s different rooms come alive with the movements of the visitors’bodies. The children along with the people accompanying them are invited on a collective and joyous journey made up of dance installations designed in collaboration with dancers and choreographers, digital installations, dance routines, a collection of mash-up videos (extracts from shows, dance films, anthropological archives and TikTok videos) and a big group dance.
© LuckyBusiness / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Practical informations
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€13 | €10 | Our prices
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From age 4
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Trilingual exhibition (French, English, Spanish)
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The Cité is open from Tuesday to Saturday 10.00 am - 6.00 pm and 10.00 am - 7.00 pm on Sunday.
Accessibility
- Accessible to visually impaired visitors
- Accessible to visitors with reduced mobility
- Accessible to deaf and hard of hearing visitors
- Accessible to cognitively impaired visitors
- Accessible to signing deaf visitors
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© A. Nguyen - Compagnie par Terre - Universcience 2024 Turn
Three cylindrical structures play three videos encouraging the children to reproduce the movements that the dancers projected life-size in front of them are doing as well to invent their own dance. Further on the experience continues with a kinesphere. The children use it to explore the space around them and practice turning their bodies, guided by the voice of a choreographer.
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© V. Delétang - L'expérience Harmaat / Fabrice Lambert - Universcience 2024 Jump
Skipping, hopping, bouncing or leaping: when we jump our body defies gravity. In The Big Leap, the children can learn a series of choreographed movements and, in particular, try out jumping. Then there is the question of distance or rhythm, as a large display panel shows a little further on, presenting four technical jumps from different dance repertoires. Next to it an installation encourages the children to jump in time to various rhythms.
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© Photo : Aleksander Kaczmarek / iStock / Getty Images Plus - Graphism : Studio Plastac Walk
When we walk we transfer the body’s weight onto one foot, experiencing the sensations of balance and imbalance: it is our first dialogue with the ground. This section opens with the digital work Spatial anamorphosis. The floor in this enclosed space is covered in mesh that reacts to each step taken by the children: waves appear under their feet as they move across the floor. They can then test different ways of walking as they follow the music.
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© V. Quigneaux - Compagnie Instabili - Universcience 2024 Come together
When we dance we share, whether with our group, our partner, or the people watching us. Every 30 minutes an announcement invites the public to come together for a choreographed dance: a Renaissance branle dance, a 19th-century waltz to accordion music and a 1970s disco. Children and adults take part in the three dances together, spinning round, turning hand in hand or face to face with one or more other dancers in a festive, friendly atmosphere.
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© Photo : Indeed / ABSODELS / Getty Images Plus - Graphism : Studio Plastac Rest
The end of the visit gives visitors the chance for a quiet, introspective moment when they can think about the experience they have just had. This final space invites children and the people accompanying them to relax and read, providing exhibition notebooks, children’s books and must-read papers from experts for adults. A large panel is available for children to draw on and depict all their different representations of dance.
