Eu.topia

La Gaîté Lyrique – Factory of our times has opened  its doors wide to Europe, a horizon for democracy with fertile artistic and cultural terrain. Europe is also a “utopia” in 16th-century philosopher and humanist Thomas More’s sense of the word – an ideal society in the making, an “Eu-topia.” 

We hold the view that Europe is the right scope for unraveling the questions of our times and imagining shared solutions in areas such as the ecological transition, migration, and inequality, as well as the social and political polarization stoked by tech giants. Europe is also a union of freedom and respect for fundamental rights, despite the rise of illiberal et authoritarian regimes.

Over the span of nearly five months during the run-up to the European elections – a vote crucial to the continent’s future – we will join together to paint a different picture of what an “ideal” Europe could look like, without turning a blind eye to its current trials and tribulations. We will cast its defining symbols in a new light, or perhaps even reinvent them to map out a new Europe more attuned to human sensibility than to politics. This search for sensibility has turned our gaze toward Eastern Europe, home to a creative revival led by a budding new generation of artists and activists.

It is important that we listen to and support these  voices, especially at a time when the war waged  by Russia in Ukraine has awakened a European  consciousness and yearning for Europe in the  East. It’s vital that we intertwine their stories  with those of other young Europeans, through  initiatives such as hosting the Ukrainian Institute,  as well as an exhibition forging a written and  photographic dialogue between the MYOP  collective and Pen Ukraine. 

Through talks, concerts, screenings and  workshops, we hope to establish a platform  that amplifies the voices of people across Europe  who are creating independent media outlets,  clubs and festivals with a purpose, or proposing  alternative narratives amid looming censorship.  From February to June 2024, we are transforming  La Gaîté Lyrique in a laboratory for European  togetherness, to envision and build a Europe-wide  “eutopia” – the “good place” imagined by Thomas  More. A space to kindle optimism and a desire  to take action, to draw up solutions and paths  forward by combining thinking, pop culture,  and social engagement.

At first glance, partying and activism  may not seem like a natural pairing.  But La Gaîté Lyrique sees promise  in breaking down barriers between  practices and audiences. The artists, thinkers and activists central to the programming all have one thing in common: they speak their mind. They make their voices — and those  of minorities and causes too often overlooked — heard in different ways, through words, music, dance, and the visual arts.

➔ Opening weekend
09–11.02
La Gaîté Lyrique – Factory of our times is kicking  off Eu.topia in February! An entire weekend of workshops, talks and festive gatherings to explore our European connections and aspirations as we join together to build new utopias and symbols  underpinned by a desire to redefine our idea of Europe.

➔ Ukraine, vision(s)
09.02–09.06
The French collective MYOP has invited Ukrainian authors from PEN Ukraine to foster a visual and textual dialogue on today’s Ukraine. The exhibition takes the form of a collective work through which the photographers and writers join together to remove the shroud of darkness and silence cast by the war.

& more to come.

The explosive rise of the Internet in the 21st century marked the end of genre orthodoxy in music. La Gaîté Lyrique has sought to embrace this shift by bringing artists to the stage who aren’t afraid of new collaborations and blends. Sounds that take new directions and roads less traveled, ranging from pop to neo-classical, from rock to rap, electronic and experimental music. The tune of our times reverberates throughout the Grande Salle at La Gaîté Lyrique.

With : The Psychotic Monks, Parra for Cuva, COBRAH, Aho Ssan, Jaar, Jacques... & a lot more to come.

➔ Dans le club
Monthly
Dans le Club (In the Club) is ARTE Concert’s rap show, produced by Milgram. Breakout artists perform intimate concerts with a dizzying barrage of rhymes that crank up the heat. Jean Moral, the indefatigable MC of Dans le Club, welcomes the wide  world of rap to the stage, from pioneers to rookies, the prince of trap to the queen of drill, hard-hitting French rappers and poets from abroad.

La Gaîté Lyrique explores and showcases club dancing and communities in all their diversity, along with the scenes’ multiplicity of bodies and vibrant choreographic heritage. Street styles that were once off the mainstream radar – electro, voguing, house, jumpstyle, afro, dancehall and waacking, to name a few – are now resonating with new movements and generations of socially engaged dancers sharing their message online and offline as they take part in improv battles and major international competitions.

➔ Frequency
28.01
Frequency is the centerpiece event for electro dance at La Gaîté Lyrique! It’s a hybrid night featuring dance battles and gravity-defying performances, where you can (re)discover all the moves and sensations of electro culture, a history written on the street and in clubs off the beaten track. The top electro dancers from across the globe will be descending on Paris for a night to remember. 

➔ Waack in Paris
17.02
La Gaîté Lyrique is welcoming the waacking community for Waack in Paris, a competition and club night hosted by Mounia Nassangar. She will be joined for by the style’s top dancers, who will flaunt their moves in a series of battles, performances and DJ sets at Waack in Paris 1vs1 vol. II.

Cultural centers have a role to play that extends far beyond the moments when spotlights light up the stage. From the ground up, morning to evening, La Gaîté Lyrique aims to be a welcoming, friendly place for all. A place to work, grab a drink or solidarity breakfast, buy a book,  take part in a workshop, attend a roundtable or a screening, hear a sound experience, or connect with a non-profit. The doors are open and waiting for you to step inside.

Every day at 7 pm (or thereabouts), La Gaîté Lyrique opens up the floor to authors, artists, journalists, thinkers, activists and non-profit professionals,  to ponder the big questions of our time. Evenings from Tuesday to Friday are a time to listen and share thoughts on topics such as feminist and gender revolutions, society and the living world, as well as to share effective ways to take a stand – a place to celebrate personal breakthroughs and collective struggles.

➔ Europe et Sentiment
The Europe & Sentiment podcast is heading to La Gaîté Lyrique to discuss and imagine the present and future of Europe in the run-up to the European elections. Laetitia Chabannes invites European figures and normal folk to recount their first EU elections, from 1979 to the present day. Their singular stories stand as an intimate, personal testament to the changing face of European society.

➔ Story Time with Paillettes
One Sunday each month, the drag queens from Paillettes – French for “glitter” – are bringing their boas and heels to La Gaîté for tea-time tales that take unexpected turns: mustachioed princesses, others who tame dragons, a long-haired frog that falls in love with a pink toad, a pint-sized knight, a cat who’s a dog, a prince who falls in love with another prince, and more. A zany world that’s fun for the whole family!

➔ Encore heureux
The Encore heureux podcast is coming to La Gaîté Lyrique to record its first season with a live audience. This new show from the Binge Audio studios turns the focus to self-care and mental health. Twice a month – once in front of an audience – Camille Teste explores a real-world issue that impacts our lives and well-being. `she takes an honest, constructive look at a problem of our day, together with a guest and Strasbourg-based psychiatrist Daniel Batoula.

➔ Afrotopiques
The Afrotopiques podcast is setting up its microphones at La Gaîté Lyrique for a series of episodes recorded in front of a live audience, on economic perspectives from the Global South. The monthly show, hosted by Marie-Yemta Moussanang, fosters a dialogue on issues that span the Global North and South.

➔ Ciné club Gaze
La Gaîté Lyrique has teamed up with the magazine Gaze on a new feminist cinema club held every other month, featuring a guest and the film – directed by a woman – that changed her life. It’s a way to celebrate women directors and their vision of the issues shaping our society. Each screening will be followed by a discussion with the guest to delve into the themes of the film on a deeper level and interact with the audience.

With : Nuits sonores, makesense, ARTE, SINGA, Censored, The Circle, MAD, Patins Collectif, Fisheye, La fresque de la migration, Design des mondes ruraux, Et maintenant, Atelier A, Willa, Mangroove, CELF, Pass Culture, True Stories & many more to come!

Every Saturday afternoon, La Gaîté Lyrique offers workshops to support kids in their creative endeavors. During the workshops, which are related to the season’s themes, young ones cultivate critical thinking on topics such as the ecological transition, European symbols, and social engagement. They can make their own poster to defend a cause and share a positive message, produce a podcast, or use European symbols to design their own flag. Together with their family, of course!

Ages 6 and up.

With: Les petits débrouillards, Cause·s toujours, Kiblind & more!

As part of its warm welcome all communities, La Gaîté Lyrique has partnered with solidarity groups and hosts several weekly initiatives that fight exclusion and precarity. There are opportunities throughout the year to play an active part in the cultural activities and programming at La Gaîté Lyrique, with free entrance to concerts, workshops, talks and screenings.

➔ Art & Food
Every Tuesday
The Salvation Army and La Chorba have been running the Art & Food initiative since 2020, distributing breakfasts at cultural centers in central Paris on a weekly basis. The project nourishes the body and soul with a balanced meal to start the day, a lunchbox to go, and a cultural activity, all wrapped in one.
In partnership with La Chorba and the Salvation Army

➔ Sismographic dance
Sismographic dance workshops are held during Art & Food to introduce participants to somatic exploration through an approach rooted in choreography. The Corps Sismographe® method offers choreographic tools attuned to our perceptions, sensations, emotions, and imaginations. Participants use their mood as inspiration as they move with the music.

Conviviality is central to life at La Gaîté Lyrique, where you can enjoy a refreshment or simply share a relaxing or studious moment in the bar or on the first floor. Inside, on the ground floor, the new bar is located closer to the patio like the bar on the floor above, with an ample number of tables for meeting up, working, studying, flirting... living life. Outside, the patio sits on the colorful, cheerful square home to La Gaîté Lyrique in the Sentier-Arts et Métiers neighborhood.

KIBLIND has taken up La Gaîté Lyrique’s invitation to set up its new shop on the first floor! All the KIBLIND creations will be on display, alongside illustrated gems from KIBLIND’s favorite artists at two pop-up stores that will move in every two months. In addition to its wares, KIBLIND Atelier will also feature an exhibition space showcasing illustrators.

La Gaîté Lyrique helps new generations working in art, activism and media to cultivate their ability to create, network and collaborate using an inventive toolbox that includes shared offices as well as recording, multimedia and podcast studios. And that’s just the beginning – Factory of our times will extend beyond the walls of La Gaîté Lyrique to serve as a powerful beacon in Europe, amplifying voices and projects that transform our societies, and sharing the new
stories and imaginaries that emerge.

La Gaîté Lyrique is more than just a building – it’s a toolbox for artists, cultural organizations, activists and citizens. La Gaîté helps write new stories and build engagement by providing the spaces and tools needed to craft inventive narratives and creative forms. In November 2023, La Gaîté Lyrique announced a call for projects with new stories and imaginative thinking to form part of the La Gaîté Lyrique ecosystem at our recording studio and podcast studio, before going on to reach broader audiences.

More than 60 residents from 16 organizations settled in on the 6th and 7th floors of La Gaîté Lyrique in September. All the residents – in media, music, ecological transition and solidarity – share a common ground rule: all the projects developed at the center must reach the general public. The incubation programs led by the founding partners of Factory of our times will set the tempo for the year by seeking out talented individuals from all different sorts of backgrounds!

With: StreetPress, Upian, Amadeus, Chilli, Collectif, Imagine 2050, l’Institut Ukrainien, Mangroove Music, Miyam, Nova Materia, On est prêt, Red Bull Music Studios Paris & more.

VOGUING ON TOUR
La Gaîté Lyrique has a long history with the ballroom scene. Voguing on Tour was created to share that experience in hosting and producing events, in partnership with a network of cultural institutions eager to discover the scene. La Gaîté Lyrique’s balls are heading out on tour with Vinii Revlon as master of ceremonies, to connect with broader audiences.

Upcoming dates :
20.01 • Lieu Unique, Nantes
02.03 • Salle des fêtes du Grand Parc, Bordeaux
16.03 • Points communs, Nouvelle scène nationale de Cergy-Pontoise et du Val d’Oise, Cergy