Creative director Jacques Heim chatted about the new show “Escape.”
He serves as founder and creative director of Diavolo Architecture in Motion Dance Company that is presenting their newest work, “Escape,” in Los Angeles this month.
How did “Escape” come about?
Well actually, the concept started a couple years ago. After the pandemic, I wanted to explore themes of breaking free, escaping your environment, escaping your own life, as well as perseverance, resilience, and understanding fear.
What happens when we face our obstacles–not turning around, but conquering them in order to rise?
I also wanted to do a show using a lot of structures, but I didn’t know if it was going to work and how we could do it, so I forgot about it for years.
During all this time, DIAVOLO was running workshops and rehearsals out of our studio. Whenever people would come for these events they were saying,
“There’s something pretty amazing about watching the work in the DIAVOLO studio. We’re so close to the performers, so close to the action. It’s really super cool. It really gave a whole different experience.”
It’s actually a completely different experience than watching on a proscenium stage far away. When you are far way, you see from a distance the bigger picture, the whole design.
You don’t feel as much as the vulnerability of the performers, the strengths of the performers, what they are actually going through, doing this work. But when you are up close, you see everything and you feel everything. You feel kind of like you are being part of the action and part of the experience.
After years of hearing this feedback, something finally clicked. That’s when I decided to create a show at our studio with a lot of architectural structures.
I found the concept for “Escape” in my old notes and I shared with France Nguyen Vincent, our writer and dramaturg. We continued developing the concept, while we converted the studio into a performance space.
“Escape” is an up close and personal Diavolo experience that is impactful and meaningful but also entertaining. (Let’s not be scared of the word “entertaining” for crying out loud!)
In this crazy, chaotic world we live in, there is something powerful about work that is visually, mentally, and emotionally appealing, that also lets audiences have fun!
What inspires you each day as a creative director?
What inspires me on the day-to day-is observing humans; seeing behavior patterns and seeing the relation and interaction between those humans and their environment.
How they move, how they react, how they operate, their relationships. That inspires me.
For example, I remember this particular moment–and I don’t really know where I was–but I was in the city, and suddenly I was across a hotel that had a large, revolving door. It was kind of a plexiglass, so you could see through.
One human was exiting the hotel with some suitcases while another human was entering from the street.
As they tried to reach their destinations, they got stuck in the revolving door. I watched as they tried to negotiate who was going to move first. A simple example, but so funny and so fascinating.
What I was experiencing was the relation and interaction between the human bodies and their environment; the structures that surround them.
I see that kind of moment all the time, everywhere. Whether I go to a restaurant, at the airport, a train station, a hotel, on the street, in the park… You name it.
This is the reason I started a dance company, to work with humans, this fascinating species, and to recreate in a very abstract way these experiences I observed.
How does it feel to be a part of the digital age?
I am the old school, right? I’m French. From Paris. 61 years old. I see that the internet world is fantastic, meaning it’s an incredible tool (that I don’t totally know how to use). I do accept and appreciate the technology. Still, I have to say, there’s a part of me that thinks people rely too much on technology.
There is something beautiful about simplicity, and the realism of movement, the realism of communication, talking to another human face-to-face, without a tool called the iPhone. Even writing letters. That moment of wanting an answer that is not immediate; that created patience.
It teaches you to live, not in a fast pace, but kind of a slow pace rhythm. That’s beautiful. That’s poetic. Where’s the poetry of today, when you’re moving at 300 miles an hour? Quick, quick, quick, quick answer. Quick text.
The technology of the digital world can help with many things, but on the other hand, I see the way it has backfired on this young generation, who can struggle to communicate in person and suddenly have to compete and compare themselves to the rest of the world.
When I was growing up, my world was just my little neighborhood. I see how this can create feelings of depression, isolation, and panic.
I hope people, young or old, take time now to appreciate the physical world and their communities in their real life.
What did “Escape” teach you about yourself?
This might sound a little pompous. I don’t know. But what I learned from this project, is that still, after 33 years of Diavolo, doing this work, combining all these architecture structures, using this aesthetic, and presenting that in front of an audience… It still feels actually very new and fresh.
When people come up to me after a show and say, “Oh my gosh, this is so awesome,” why do they say that? Not because our work is the best work. Not at all.
This kind of aesthetic with our architecture structures, the movement, the group working together as a community, as a family, pushing themselves beyond their own emotional, mental, and physical limits, all that fusion is something that feels exciting, exhilarating and fresh and new.
Was your legendary grandfather (namesake) an influence on you growing up?
My grandfather, Jacques Heim, was a fashion designer, who invented the first two-piece bathing suit. He originally named it “Atom” after the smallest particle, but it eventually became known as the bikini.
Living around fashion and art definitely gave me a kind of imprint. I was inspired without really knowing that I was affected. Whatever I was interested in, I was encouraged to create, whether it was theater or movement or poetry or painting.
I always knew I was born a creator because I was born into a family of creators.
How did it feel to get rave reviews from Heidi Klum on “America’s Got Talent”? (for the dance company)
I have to tell you, at first, I didn’t want to go on AGT because we were about to create a show to go on tour, and I didn’t have the time to be on TV.
Then, Diavolo got asked and I actually really enjoyed it. I learned so much about how to create under pressure with producers from AGT.
They would tell me “Okay, you have a week to create three minutes.” “Okay, now you have four days to create three minutes.” “Okay six days.” And it was like you had to do it perfectly with 22 performers.
So, then when we were on that stage and Heidi Klum and the other judges gave us these great compliments, it felt great!
You know, when you present your work in front of 90 million viewers, and producers encourage you because it is great for television, to receive compliments from the judges on top of that… then you must be doing something pretty special.
What is your advice for creatives that wish to go into dance, theater and the arts?
If you want go into dance or theater in the arts, do not come to United States of America. Just go to Europe or to Asia. End of story. Full stop. Next question?
No, you know, that is a loaded question, because what is happening now in 2025 in United States of America. I have to tell you, I came to this wonderful country, that I still love, when I was 19. But if I was 19 today, I’m not so sure. I don’t think I would have gone.
Right now, all the funding for the arts is cut. There’s absolutely nothing, and it’s grueling for any artist to survive. But what’s happening in Europe right now and in Asia is actually boiling with so many opportunities and amazing art.
But for other creators who are here in this country like me—because I still love this country and I don’t plan to go anywhere else—I tell you this, “think about the thing you haven’t think before.”
Which is: How are you going to make money? How can you can become an entrepreneur with the art that you’re creating?
And here’s the advice I say to people: Look, take your phone, open your phone. Create something that is not inside your phone.
A long time ago, Steve Wynn from The Wynn Las Vegas asked me one question, “Jacques, how can you determine what is the new idea?”And my answer to him is that I open my phone and look what’s on the internet.
If my idea is not on the internet, then it’s a new idea. Yeah. Then you can create that. Create what you haven’t seen yet.
What does the word success mean to you? (My favorite question)
I feel successful when I help others. Pure and simple. I think that’s why I’m here on this planet Earth with Diavolo.
Diavolo is more than a dance company. It’s more like a program where I am learning from my collaborators, learning from my performers, learning from others, and helping other humans to excel. The work helps other humans reconnect to their strengths.
This is exactly what we do with our Military Veterans Program, but it is also the core of every day in Diavolo. We do restoration. We restore our emotional, mental, and physical strengths.
When you help others and you see their growth and you see them rising, that is priceless. That is pure success.
What do you hope people get out of “Escape”?
I will quote my collaborator, France Nguyen-Vincent, the writer and dramaturg for “Escape.”
“What has happened in the studio since the creative process began is the absolute demonstration that perseverance, trust, and togetherness are part of the recipe to shape purpose, awaken talent, create beauty, and reveal the extraordinary.
The performers and the creative team embarked on an odyssey that culminates in this new work: “Escape.” If you can, I enjoin you to come and experience the evening. I expect it will invigorate and inspire you. At the core, it is food for hope.”
Food for hope. Yes, I couldn’t say it better myself. What we do in “Escape” is celebrate humanity at its core.
To learn more about show “Escape,” visit its official website.
