The play " " by Camille Boitel and Sève Bernard, an enchanted interlude from Montpellier Danse

Orphaned by its supreme guide, Jean-Paul Montanari, who died of cancer at the end of April, four months after finally taking his endlessly postponed retirement, the Montpellier Danse festival opened on the first day of summer, to the inconsolably cheerful tune of "Show must go on." Because, while waiting for choreographer Dominique Hervieu and her team to truly take possession of the venue, the sprawling shadow of Jean-Paul Montanari continues to hover this year, all the more so since he had time to concoct, with Maïwenn Rebours, the menu for the 45th edition.

Which, as misfortune never comes alone, experienced a major initial disappointment: only five days before the opening of the event, which it was supposed to launch for three performances, Batsheva cancelled its visit to France, the prestigious Israeli company unable to leave Tel Aviv as planned, Thursday, June 19, following the closure of the local airport, collateral damage of the conflict between Israel and Iran. So, out goes Momo , by Ohad Naharin, and with it, some 6,000 tickets to be refunded, representing alone almost 10% of the total attendance of the festival. Since 1992, Montanari had always provided unwavering support to a company too often caught up in geopolitical turmoil (calls for boycotts, threats, etc.), which, today also a victim of the "tragedy of the world" (in the words of the mayor, Michaël Delafosse), is until further notice reduced to spearheading