Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels and L’Alliance New York announce upcoming performances of You’re the one we love/and when we change the landscape… by Leïla Ka/Robyn Orlin with the Choreographic Ensemble of the Paris Conservatoire, set for March 12 & 13, 2026 at 7:30PM at the Florence Gould Theater, L’Alliance New York, 55 East 59th Street, New York, NY, 10022. Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased https://www.tickettailor.com/events/lalliancenewyork/1952072.

The Choreographic Ensemble of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, composed of ten pre-professional artists from the Master’s program, unveils a bold new program shaped by two major voices in contemporary dance: Leïla Ka and Robyn Orlin. Focused on ensemble work, emancipation and physical engagement, the show blends repertoire and original creation.



Leïla Ka reimagines her acclaimed duet You’re the one we love, for ten performers. Robyn Orlin, known for her socially engaged, multimedia work, presents: and when we change the landscape… it is with our bare hands or with gloves… — a new piece exploring the cultural and political realities of South Africa. This program affirms the Ensemble’s role as a platform for emerging talent and choreographic innovation.

These performances are part of the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival in New York.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Leïla Ka has asserted her fierce energy in just a few years. Her dance is powerfully theatrical and strikingly precise.

Following the international success of her first three award-winning pieces — Pode Ser, C’est toi qu’on adore, and Bouffées — Leïla Ka created Maldonne, her first group piece, which was nominated for the International Dance Prize at Sadler’s Wells in London.

Entering the dance world through urban styles, she did not follow a traditional academic path, instead forging her own unique trajectory. After performing for Maguy Marin, Leïla Ka began creating her own choreographies, infused with both urban and contemporary influences.

She also develops her talent as a choreographer and scenographer beyond conventional boundaries: she notably choreographed the 2025 César Awards Ceremony and music videos for Zaho de Sagazan.

Born in 1955 in Johannesburg, Robyn Orlin is a dancer, choreographer and founder of City Theatre & Dance Group (1988). In 1981, on a solo guest performance she gave on the Breytenbach Theatre stage in Pretoria, Adrienne C Sichel described her as “a very angry young dancer.” She understood later with Robyn’s growing reputation that she actually attended the choreographer’s first theatrical attempt to deconstruct, confront and critique the colonial white classical ballet tradition.

This critique has been omnipresent in her work, which made her become world famous in 2003 when she won the Laurence Olivier Award for “Daddy, I have seen this piece six times before and I still don’t know why they are hurting each other” (1999): a richly satiric portrait of race relations, confrontations and the threat presented by democracy to Western “elitist” dance forms. Perhaps the pinnacle of Orlin’s socio-political expression and achievement is the commission by the Paris Opéra of L’Allegro, il penseroso ed il moderato (2007) where she had Étoiles and ballet dancers pulling down the tutu’s supremacy.

Nicknamed in South Africa as “permanent irritation,” she reveals, through her work, the difficult and complex reality of her country. She incorporates various artistic expressions—text, video, and plastic arts, among others—in order to explore a certain theatricality that is reflected in her choreographic vocabulary.

In a co-production with INA and ARTE, she made her first movie “Hidden beauties, dirty histories” in October 2004.

Robyn Orlin was named Commander of Arts and Letters in 2022.

Billing Credits

You’re the one we love:

Choreography: Leïla Ka

Assistance: Jane Fournier Dumet

Lighting Designer: Laurent Fallot

and when we change the landscape…:

Choreography: Robyn Orlin

Assistance: Birgit Neppl

Video Art: Eric Perroys

Production Manager: Maxime Robert

Lights: Juliette Labbaye

Music: Arnau Gran I Romero, Guilherme Araujo de Almeida, Yuhang Li, students in the New Technologies Applied to Composition class

Professor: Yan Maresz, CNSMDP

2025–2026 Dancers of the Choreographic Ensemble

Sasha Boccara

Noah Bosquaux

Mila Delangue

Lilas Georg

Juliette Ghebache

Chiara Huet-Tournier

Lino Jaricot

Kim Delage Mourroux

Margot Ngosso Silo

Noa Vecrigner

Conservatoire Leadership

Director of CNSMDP: Emilie Delorme

Head of Choreographic Studies: Muriel Maffre

Ballet Mistress: Céline Talon

Technical Director: Pascale Bondu

Production Credits

Produced by the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris

With the principal support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels

and when we change the landscape… by Robyn Orlin is also supported by King’s Fountain

About L’Alliance New York

As an independent, not-for-profit organization, L’Alliance is committed to providing members and students with engaging French language classes and audacious multi-disciplinary programming that celebrates the diversity of francophone cultures and creativity around the world.

A welcoming and inclusive community for all ages and backgrounds, L’Alliance New York cultivates a space where people can meet, learn, explore the richness of heritage, and share discoveries. They strive to amplify voices and build bridges from the entire francophone world to New York and beyond.

L’Alliance New York’s history began in 1898 when the Alliance Française established a chapter here in New York City. In 1911, francophile New Yorker MacDougal Hawkes founded the Museum of French Art, French Institute, and opened a space in 1925 inside a beautiful Beaux-Arts building at 22 East 60th Street, where L’Alliance still operates. In 1971, the two institutions combined to create the French Institute Alliance Française, now known as L’Alliance New York.

As a product of this union, L’Alliance is infused with the spirit of the original French Institute. Designed to serve as a museum, library, and intellectual and social club for New York’s francophone community, the French Institute is a place where all are welcome – a place of community, culture, support, and festivity.

About Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels

Founded in 2020, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is guided by the values of creation, transmission, and education. Its mission is to support artists and institutions in sharing choreographic heritage while encouraging new productions.

Since its launch, Dance Reflections has accompanied numerous companies in their creations as well as multiple institutions in the presentation of their works on the international stage. The program is reinforced each year by major events, such as the Dance Reflections

by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival.

In addition to supporting the creation and promotion of choreographic works, Dance Reflections places increasing importance on issues of transmission and education. With its partners, the initiative organizes residencies for professional dancers as well as actions to raise awareness of choreographic culture, open to all.

Its network, now consisting of more than 60 partners from 17 different countries, continues to grow with each project.

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