On the occasion of the European Heritage Days, held this year under the theme “Heritage at Risk,” Jardins d’Étretat welcomes WHIP, a choreographic work by Georges Labbat, performed by Awa Joannais and Grâce Lyell, with an original sound composition by Paul JF Fleury.
What do we do with what we inherit? How can we preserve the traces of the past while also reinterpreting and transforming them? WHIP explores these questions through an object deeply charged with history: the whip. Associated with coercion, violence and power, it becomes here a choreographic and musical material — movement, rhythm, sound and symbol.
Reimagined for Étretat, the performance unfolds across two landscapes: it begins within the precise, dreamlike setting of the Gardens before continuing on the Amont cliff, near the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde. WHIP thus brings into tension a shaped and controlled landscape with an environment exposed to the power of the elements.

WHIP — Georges Labbat
Friday, 18 September 2026 — 4:30 pm
Saturday, 19 September 2026 — 2:30 pm
Jardins d’Étretat → Amont cliff, near the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde
The first part of the performance, presented within the Gardens, is accessible with a standard admission ticket to Jardins d’Étretat.

Produced by ACEAC, in co-production with Jardins d’Étretat and Compagnie Numero2, with exceptional support from the Fondation AG2R LA MONDIALE pour la Vitalité artistique, and with the support of the Conservatoire du littoral and the Département de la Seine-Maritime.

About the artists

Georges Labbat is a multidisciplinary artist who trained in dance at the Conservatoire de Paris and P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels. Working at the intersection of choreography, visual art and film, he created Self/Unnamed in 2022, followed by WHIP in 2024. As a performer, he has worked with artists including Boris Charmatz, Anne Imhof, Maria Hassabi and Gerard & Kelly.
Awa Joannais is a French-Malian dancer who trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School before joining the Paris Opera Ballet in 2014, where she danced for nearly nine years. Since 2023, she has pursued an independent career, collaborating with artists including Benjamin Millepied, Dimitri Chamblas, François Chaignaud and Georges Labbat.
Grâce Lyell is a British multidisciplinary artist, dancer, photographer and filmmaker. Following her time with Nederlands Dans Theater and Aterballetto, she has collaborated with artists including Alexander Ekman, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Georges Labbat.
Paul JF Fleury (Jeune Faune) is a musical artist, researcher and writer. His work brings together experimental aesthetics and songwriting and now extends into the performing arts, notably through his collaborations with Georges Labbat.