DIGITAL PROGRAM
PRESENTS
at L'ESPACE DIAVOLO
A 70 minute show in Two Acts.
There will be a 20 minute intermission and pre-show interaction.
ABOUT THE WORK
ESCAPE follows a group of humans as they struggle to break free from the chaotic world they live in. With resiliency and collaboration, they escape from their ordinary lives into a surreal landscape of infinite possibilities. Along with DIAVOLO’s signature movement aesthetic, ESCAPE features a collection of the company’s most famous architectural structures; each evoking a story unique to its design.
ESCAPE is the company’s flagship production in their newly renovated performance space: L’ESPACE DIAVOLO. All proceeds from ESCAPE tickets benefit Diavolo’s Military Veterans Program and Educational Institute.
THE DIAVOLO VETERANS PROGRAM
The mission of The DIAVOLO Veterans program is to restore veterans’ physical, mental, and emotional strengths. The work pairs Diavolo’s unique movement methodology with participant-generated stories in workshops and performances across the country.
Since its founding in 2016, the DIAVOLO Veterans program has served hundreds of veterans and garnered national recognition, with Diavolo
Creative Director, Jacques Heim, receiving a Letter of Commendation (General Ret. Richard B. Myers, 2023) and a Meritorious Civilian Service Medal (General Paul E. Funk, 2022) to honor the program’s life-changing work.
DIAVOLO’S EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING
Diavolo’s Educational Programming fosters movement education and creative expression through professional and pre-professional training, teaching residencies, and community engagement. Notably, “T.R.U.S.T.” Diavolo’s
interactive show in partnership with The Music Center, has become a staple of elementary schools across Los Angeles County. On average, Diavolo’s Educational Programming serves 13,000 students annually, with over 100K
youth impacted since the program launched in 2013.
PROGRAM OFFERINGS:
-WORKSHOPS AND RESIDENCIES FOR K-12, COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
-PRE-PROFESSIONAL & PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
-IN-SCHOOL ASSEMBLY SHOWS
-COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
ABOUT DIAVOLO AND FOUNDER / CREATOR JACQUES HIEM:
DIAVOLO | ARCHITECTURE IN MOTION® is a creative movement
production company that uses custom, architectural structures and a unique movement aesthetic to create live, cinematic, and multimedia experiences. DIAVOLO productions explore innovation and celebrate the complexity of the human condition with an undefinable blend of dance, stunt work, acrobatics, circus arts, and pedestrian movement. The work is athletic, captivating, and visceral.
With Founder & Creative Director JACQUES HEIM at the helm,
DIAVOLO has performed all over the world, including prominent features on AMERICA’S GOT TALENT and the 2024 GRAMMY AWARDS.
Heim’s other notable credits include:
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL’S KÁ (Choreographer)
OPENING CEREMONY FOR THE 16TH ASIAN GAMES (Creative Director)
TAURUS STUNT AWARDS (Artistic Director)
BBC AMERICA’S DANCING WITH THE STARS (Choreographer)
THE COMPANY
TEXTS TRANSCRIPTS
All texts written by France Nguyen Vincent except when
otherwise credited
- ACT 1 -
IT ALL STARTED HERE…
(Voiceover by Jacques Heim)
"In this space, with a group of people eager to move, ready to dare,
and wanting to create.
We used movement as our language to connect, to learn what it
means to care and to trust. We channeled our passions,
confronted our fears, and discovered what we were capable of.
In this space, where time stretched and often stood still, we found
refuge from the noises of the outside world.
We worked with the same commitment as if we were the only
ones left on earth, on a mission to survive.
In this space, we explored every possible and impossible way to
shape our environment, taking it apart, rebuilding it, shifting
through, finding new ways - in and out.
In this space, we experienced how movement can become a
language of interdependence and restoration. Our work always
carries that simple truth that we cannot do it alone, and it's with
that certainty that, in this space, our show begins now."
BOXED IN
(Voiceover by CHADWICK GASPARD)
"Boxed in my own reality
Feeling dimmed, held back,
Mentally confined.
Shrinking to fit inside
Standard frames, grids of potential
Sparkling promises of achievement, reward and happiness.
Aspirations that may feel safe and can be beautiful,
but I still feel boxed in!
Rules and control.They are needed, but who are they serving?
Expectations; they weigh on everything,
It is all so heavy, immobilizing
I have responsibilities, but that's not why I am looking for a way out
I just want to breathe, to feel lighter, untied
My dreams, my escape, my quiet rebellion
I sense I am not alone, but I feel isolated
Does everybody feel that way?"
ESCAPE, BUT WHY?
(BY PERFORMERS - EDITED by SIMON larson GREENBERG)
"It’s a chance to feel what I haven’t before
Detach from the things that feel wrong in a certain place
Escape is constantly changing; right now it’s panic
Not necessarily the need to recluse away,
but to open up and release
Experiencing my reality to the fullest
As a tool to process, but only if it also wakes you up
Searching for something you desire
I escape to the present moment,
and the things that I am worried about, they all fall away
Every single moment provides an opportunity to make a choice.
I am usually looking for change
Looking at the thing that I am doing and do the opposite;
it's that duality that keeps me sane
Every time that I have the reaction of wanting to flee and claw,
I have to connect and calm
Escaping my habits, trying to get out of my own way
I escape the now as much as possible
Thinking more about what’s next
I used to associate escaping with overwhelm and frustration…
Disappearing and crumbling away
It happens with change, but if we are not changing we are not living
… Now I kind of associate it more with the ability to choose, to reset
But where am I supposed to go?
You are already at your destination…You have already arrived!"
- ACT 2 -
OVER THE COURSE OF OUR JOURNEY...
“[...we] will no longer be the person [we] believed we once were.
[We] will detect slow and subtle [transformations] going on all around[us], more importantly [transformations] in [us] …”
Mark Z. Danielewski
“[...Humanity] is this [multiple] and collective unity in which the unity oF destination and the differences of destinies are to be understood
through each other”
Paul Ricoeur
“We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are
each other’s magnitude and bond.”
Gwendolyn Brooks
"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move
with it, and join the dance."
Alan Wilson Watts
LOOKING BEYOND
(VOICEOVER BY SHANNON CORBEIL)
"We are all explorers, not just of the world, but of our own edges.
We carry the instinct to seek, to stretch, to go beyond…
A call for adventure
A desire for something new
A wondering stare into the depth of a night sky
A silent yearn for love
A deep breath
An effort to be brave
A need to not stand still
A refusal to be constrained
We are all explorers, not just of the world, but of our own edges.
We carry the instinct to seek, to stretch, to go beyond…
When you see the openings, if you are curious, and dare to go…
That's how destinies are changed."
EQUILIBRIUM
(VOICEOVER BY JACQUES HEIM)
"And here we are… almost at the end of this journey.
We have been moving fast, venturing far, and in our search for
fulfillment, confidence and freedom, we’ve discovered that we have the
agency to shape not only our reality, but also our dreams… the power
to escape, and to return.
We’ve discovered that, if we must find and preserve equilibrium in the
constant motion of life’s current, stability is not the absence of
movement, and balance can be found in togetherness.
We’ve discovered that whether you choose to leap, or get randomly
catapulted out of your sphere, you can trust that someone will always
be there to catch you."
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ESCAPE was commissioned with the generous support of an anonymous funder.
We extend our deepest gratitude to our infrastructure sponsors.
The transformation ofL’ESPACE DIAVOLO was made possible through the leadership support of The Ahmanson Foundation and The Perenchio Foundation.
Additional support for ESCAPE was generously provided by Betsy Schmittke,
Meegan Godfrey, Curtis Cronthall, and Bobbi Cox.
SPECIAL THANKS
It took a village to turn L’ESPACE DIAVOLO from a dream into a reality.
Thank you to the following people for their time, labor, and expertise:
Steven Jasso
Andrew Miller
David Sukonick
Fred Babson
Caribay Franke
Matthew Christensen
Lala Araki
Dae Marcuz
Jose Jose Arrieta Cuesta
Emrose Seidenberg
Matt Reiner
Mark Ferrando
Simon Larson Greenberg
Co-eL Rodriguez
Chadwick Gaspard
Kate Dougherty
Ryan Ruiz
Ariana Rodriguez
Mia Moraru
Jeffrey Bull
Gabriela Collazo
Abe Meisel
Andrew Tippie
Jarel Lewis
Evan Hernandez
Allison Slamann
Claire Schick
Aaron Franco
Emily Grable
Keilani Mussetter
Nola Gibson
Roshen Edakkara
By coming to ESCAPE,
you are not only supporting the live arts,
but you are also contributing to
Diavolo's Community Initiatives.
