Bal Harbour

© T H E O G I ACO M E T T I; PA S C A L E C H O L E T T E; J A I M E R O Q U E D E L A C R UZ an Cleef & Arpels—the Place Vendome, Paris–based luxur y jewelr y brand—is best known amongst st yle- savvy shoppers for its timeless Alhambra charm. You've seen it, no doubt: From modish Miamians sporting a sole malachite or mother-of-pearl pendant on a gold chain, to LeBron James or the tennis star Grigor Dimitrov, who each wear bracelets featuring five of the motifs. And while the Alhambra is directly inspired by a four-leaf clover, there's no doubt a certain move- ment and musicality to its arcing-and-dipping shape: If you outline it, the result is almost like tracing the sweeps of an orchestra conductor's baton. Or, likewise, the perfect curvature of a ballerina's cambré. As it happens, Van Cleef & Arpels has a storied—and perhaps unex- pected—history with performance and dance. In the 1950s, the choreographer George Balanchine would meet the brand's namesa ke Claude A r pels. The connect ion would inspire Balanchine to create what is deemed to be the first great abstract classi- cal ballet: Jewels (some say the idea was seeded by Van Cleef & Arpels' ballerina brooches, which were made in the '40s). The jewelry-maker, in essence, helped catalyze what is now a canonical dance piece, scored with the music of Fauré, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. In 2020, to celebrate this unique legacy, Van Cleef & Arpels launched a program called Dance Reflections, a traveling, multi-week summit that supports creative artists and institutions linked to the world of choreog- raphy by putting on specialized variations and connecting audiences to the intricacies (and synergies) of dance. Its next edition, running from October 19 to December 14 in New York, will see collaborations with V Ballet National de Marseille (in town to perform a piece inspired by voguing, the gestural style of dance that emerged from Harlem's '60s ballroom scene); and performances at venues like the N Y U Skirball Center; the Joyce Theater; and more. Dance Reflections is spearheaded by Serge Laurent , the brand's director of dance and culture and a former curator of living ar ts at the Centre Pompidou. "Through Dance Reflections, we suppor t choreo- g raphic creat ion on a globa l sca le," says L aurent . "Concretely, we financially assist dance companies with the creation of new works and institutions with the presentation of dance programs." An additional highlight at the upcoming New York activation, he adds, includes a "ma g ni ficent " Lucinda Childs piece from the ' 70s that w ill be per- formed at the New York Cit y Center. "When we started working on this project, we relied not only on the history of Van Cleef & Arpels, but also on its values," says Laurent when asked how Dance Reflections was (and continues to be) formed. "The program is based on three of our values, which we share with the art of choreography— creation, education, and transmission." When asked to expand upon the third value, Laurent o¨ers: "For a work from the past to be presented and preserved, it must be transmitted from one dancer to another. From one generation to the next." It's an interesting thought to part with: There's obvious permanence in jewelry—the Alhambra being a hallmark, an icon forged in metal— yet Van Cleef & Arpels sees that same durability in the fluidity and form of dance. The crossover adds a kind of symbolically malleable beauty to the former, and a bedrock appreciation for the latter. VAN CLEEF & ARPELS HONORS A LESSER- KNOWN ELEMENT OF ITS HISTORY WITH DANCE REFLECTIONS, A GLOBAL SUMMIT CELEBRATING CHOREOGRAPHY. BY NICK REMSEN ON FROM LEFT Performances from Dance Reflections: Mood, by Lasseindra Ninja; Corps Extremes by Rachid Ouramdane; Dance by Lucinda Childs 104 BAL HARBOUR

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