“It’s a battle on so many fronts, it’s exhausting,” Dembélé said. It culminates in rousing excerpts from “Les Indes Galantes,” but prefaces them with a string of slow-moving scenes, outdoors then inside, that feel like a meditation on emancipation. In Avignon, “G.R.O.O.V.E.” starts at a symbolic spot: in front of the city’s Papal Palace, the imposing site most identified with the event. Ushers then lead the audience to the nearby Avignon Opera, where three groups are formed. “Through us,” Dembélé said, “the street moves into the opera house and subverts it.” Tiago Rodrigues, the new director of the Avignon Festival, said that was the reason he chose Dembélé to open this year’s edition: “It’s a show of the openness and spirit of diversity we want for the festival.”

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Persons: “, ” Dembélé, Alice Diop, “ Saint Omer, ”, Dembélé, “ Les, Célia Kameni, ” Tiago Rodrigues Organizations: Lille Opera, Avignon Opera Locations: French, Avignon