Rameau's Replay: The Reprise of Peru at the Opéra Bastille

This article explores the place of Peru in Clément Cogitore's staging of Rameau's Les Indes galantes at the Opéra national de Paris in 2019. While the choreography by French hip-hop pioneer Bintou Dembélé showcased the cultural and ethnic diversity of France, the specificity of colonial Peru in "Les Incas du Pérou" (the opera-ballet's second act) appeared at face value to have been expunged for the sake of a universality predicated on narrow terms. Yet, upon closer inspection, Cogitore and Dembélé's work can be seen to mirror and expand on the distinctive tale of hybridity chronicled in Rameau's Peruvian love story.