Preview: Dance Prodigies of DIAVOLO Bring ‘ESCAPE’ Into Close Quarters in L.A.

DIAVOLO returns to its Los Angeles Arts District studio with ESCAPE, a physically preternatural work that places audiences within close proximity of the company’s signature architectural choreography. Beginning March 28th, the production unfolds inside a 90-seat black box where some viewers are no further than a few feet away from the 22 dancers in what is expected to be a direct and intimate spectacle.

Founded by choreographer Jacques Heim in 1992, who is also the brain behind Cirque du Soleil’s long-running KÀ at the MGM Grand, DIAVOLO has built an international following through movement that merges dance with engineered environments. The company drew widespread attention during its run on America’s Got Talent in 2017, where performers initially got the attention of judges Simon Cowell, Mel B, and Heidi Klum by navigating a curved, swinging structure that tilted without warning, demanding precise coordination and core strength. In 2024, the agile group opened the Grammy Awards alongside pop star Dua Lipa. These performances introduced a broader audience to a style defined by controlled risk and the illusion of effortlessness under intense demands.

ESCAPE, which will run for only 35 performances, continues that approach while compressing the scale. Heim transforms the studio into a kinetic landscape of metal platforms and wood-made constructions, creating a space that constantly shifts beneath the troupe. The dancers climb, suspend, and propel themselves across these structures with spatially aware readiness, revealing a continuous negotiation between gravity, momentum, and balance. In this setting, the mechanics behind each sequence become visible where split-second adjustments and decisions must be made lest the flow of choreography be disrupted.

This work by DIAVOLO, like any other, is shaped by a thematic impulse rooted in collective persistence and enduringness. For Heim, the very inspiration for DIAVOLO hearkens back to an earthquake he experienced years ago while living in an apartment complex. In the immediate aftermath, residents understood and applied the strength-in-numbers maxim by sharing food, blankets, and water.

DIAVOLO represents the feeling of interconnected support within a performance group that, if they don’t sink, have no other choice but to band together and succeed at a level they couldn’t attain on an individual basis. As a unified organism, the performers rely on one another to move on precarious terrain, forming alliances that emphasize how powerful vulnerability can be.

As Heim mentioned on AGT: “When you put people in a state of survival you come closer together and you create a tight family.” Certainly, this observation has been seen time and time again — in the 250 cities and 14 countries the group has entertained in, to be exact. Beginning March 28th, Southern Californians will have the opportunity to see and celebrate the L.A.-based company on its home turf.

Cover image caption: A DIAVOLO dancer maneuvers inside a cube scaffold. Photo is courtesy of DIAVOLO.

DIAVOLO’s production of ESCAPE runs from Saturday, March 28th through Sunday, June 14th at L’ESPACE DIAVOLO (616 Moulton Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90031). Performances run only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. For tickets and further information on the run, visit diavolo.org.