Neither an illustration nor a commemoration, the piece annihilates despair via the intense trance-like state that prefigures a fall or death. This pagan requiem, choreographed to an original score written by Greek composer Angelos Liaros-Copola, makes grace triumph over barbarism and sees beauty transcend death, moving between pulsing techno beats and sad death knells. The piece, whose title is an oxymoron (coup de grâce means both “fatal blow” and “act of grace”), explores paths towards sublimation, sweeping the seven superb performers along into a succession of emotional waves and intense vibrations, forming living chiaroscuro tableaux. Strong in combat or sometimes simply letting go, the dancers communicate, support one another, and form a community in a single incandescent movement. The musical tension is echoed in the tension of the bodies that nothing seems able to stop, except when their eyes lock and when light interrupts their movement, giving way to darkness. Pared-back and highly effective, COUP DE GRÂCE “avoids straying into pathos and remains in the realm of vital energy”. Ten years after the tragic Paris attacks, the power of this piece remains intact and calls upon our memories.