DIAVOLO’s acrobatic spectacle turns
movement, risk and collaboration
into something exhilaratingly human

DIAVOLO is currently presenting ESCAPE, a visceral, intimate work following 22 remarkably agile performers as they struggle to break free from a chaotic world. Set to music by Harry Styles, Pink Floyd and Alicia Keys, the production combines gravity-defying choreography with some of the company’s most celebrated architectural structures. The result is a portrait of interdependence, demonstrating how trust allows individuals to function as part of a larger whole.

DIAVOLO | Architecture in Motion, founded in Los Angeles in 1992 by French-born choreographer and Artistic Director Jacques Heim, is a dance theater company that explores the intersection of modern dance, acrobatics and gymnastics through performances built around oversized architectural structures that morph into a variety of imaginative set pieces.

Prior to attending ESCAPE, I had never visited the company’s home space in Lincoln Heights, where DIAVOLO rehearses and develops new work. Even after seeing the company several times over the years, it’s difficult to find words that adequately describe the overwhelming physicality of their work. Photographs cannot capture the way performers weave through, over and around one another with split-second timing. The level of trust required is astonishing. Dancers leap from towering structures with complete confidence that someone will be there to catch them.

A few images from ESCAPE remain especially vivid.

When Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” began, a single performer appeared carrying a large cube with no top or bottom, allowing movement within it. Soon other dancers entered with cubes of their own. Wearing jean vests numbered on the back, they seemed like workers in a vast machine, individuals reduced to components in a larger system. As the sequence evolved, the cubes transformed from stacked walls into fortress-like structures that swallowed performers whole before releasing them again into intricate choreography.

Later, sections of metal that initially covered the back wall were pulled apart and reconfigured into a massive Transformer-like locomotive. Doors opened and closed as performers streamed through them. The structure rotated to reveal new performance spaces, including a staircase that suddenly became a giant slide. Throughout it all, bodies flew across the stage, around the machinery and through narrow openings with breathtaking precision. Combined with Jean-Yves Tessie‘s lighting design and the close proximity of the audience, the effect was immersive and exhilarating.

Part of the excitement comes from seeing the company in its own 99-seat warehouse space, L’ESPACE DIAVOLO. Audience members sit only a few feet from the action, close enough to appreciate the physical demands of the performance and the extraordinary coordination required to execute it safely.

Be forewarned, however: the space is not air-conditioned and can become extremely warm during hot weather. Each audience member receives a handheld fan, which quickly becomes an essential accessory. Dress accordingly.

The intimacy extends beyond the seating arrangement. Front-row audience members may find themselves unexpectedly incorporated into the action. A performer might ask for a cooling breeze from your fan, speak directly to you or even perch briefly in your lap. These moments reinforce one of the production’s central ideas: survival depends upon human connection.

With resiliency and collaboration at its core, ESCAPE imagines people breaking free from ordinary existence and entering a landscape of seemingly limitless possibility. Combining elements of dance, acrobatics, gymnastics and physical theater, DIAVOLO continues to create work unlike anything else being presented in Los Angeles.

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photos by Cheryl Mann and George Simian

ESCAPE
DIAVOLO
L’ESPACE DIAVOLO, 616 Moulton Avenue in Los Angeles
70 minutes plus intermission
Fri & Sat at 8; Sun at 6
ends on June 14, 2026
for tickets ($39-$99), visit DIAVOLO

for more shows, visit Theatre in Los Angeles

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