LEVÉE DES CONFLITS
A leading figure of the French new wave, Boris Charmatz leads the spectator into the irrepressible spiral of a dance canon performed by 24 dancers. Trance-like effect guaranteed.
A dancer polishes the floor with a steady waxing motion. Surreptitiously her movement changes as another takes over. 24 dancers slip one after the other into a hypnotic spiral, a choreographic canon or round of movement danced over and over to a point of exhaustion. From repetitions to accelerations, the dance takes on the allure of wild flight, a raging wave where all the movements of the same solo rebound simultaneously. Each link in this huge human chain delivers one facet of the motion, turning the space into a living sculpture, a magnetic, vibrating object that inflames the desire for a suspension of conflicts, as the title suggests. Will it lead to explosion or resolution?
A leading figure of the French new wave, Boris Charmatz aims here to soothe the fury of affects and to make dance a museum exhibit while still maintaining all its vivacity. After a 10-year absence he is back in Montréal with this precise, radical piece, a landscape open to the contemplative gaze of the viewer. Trance-like effect guaranteed.
PRODUCED BY MUSÉE DE LA DANSE – CENTRE CHORÉGRAPHIQUE NATIONAL DE RENNES ET DE BRETAGNE
CHOREOGRAPHED BY BORIS CHARMATZ ASSISTED BY ANNE-KARINE LESCOP
PERFORMED BY OR AVISHAY + MATTHIEU BARBIN + ELEANOR BAUER + NUNO BIZARRO + MATTHIEU BURNER + MAGALI CAILLET-GAJAN + ASHLEY CHEN + SONIA DARBOIS + JULIEN GALLÉE-FERRÉ + PEGGY GRELAT-DUPONT + GASPARD GUILBERT + HANNA HEDMANN + CHRISTOPHE IVES + DOMINIQUE JÉGOU + JURIJ KONJAR + ÉLISE LADOUÉ + CATHERINE LEGRAND + MAUD LE PLADEC + NAIARA MENDIOROZ + THIERRY MICOUIN + ANDREAS ALBERT MÜLLER + MANI A. MUNGAI + ÉLISE OLHANDÉGUY + ANNABELLE PULCINI + SIMON TANGUY
LIGHTING DESIGN YVES GODIN
SOUND DESIGN OLIVIER RENOUF
PHOTO CAROLINE ABLAIN
COPRODUCTION THÉÂTRE NATIONAL DE BRETAGNE (RENNES) + THÉÂTRE DE LA VILLE – FESTIVAL D’AUTOMNE (PARIS) + MANIFESTA 8 (MURCIA) + ERSTE FOUNDATION
WITH THE SUPPORT OF TEATRO MARIA MATOS (LISBON) + CHASSÉ THEATER (BREDA) + KUNSTENFESTIVALDESARTS (BRUSSELS)
PRESENTED WITH THE SUPPORT OF SERVICE DE COOPÉRATION ET D’ACTION CULTURELLE DU CONSULAT GÉNÉRAL DE FRANCE À QUÉBEC + INSTITUT FRANÇAIS
WRITTEN BY FABIENNE CABADO
TRANSLATED BY NEIL KROETSCH
PREMIERED AT THÉÂTRE NATIONAL DE BRETAGNE, FESTIVAL METTRE EN SCÈNE, RENNES, ON NOVEMBER 4, 2010
BORIS CHARMATZ (RENNES)
MUSÉE DE LA DANSE - CENTRE CHORÉGRAPHIQUE NATIONAL DE RENNES ET DE BRETAGNE
Exuberant Non-dance
At age 40, Boris Charmatz is an iconic figure in conceptual dance. An adventurous dancer, enlightened teacher, inveterate researcher and iconoclastic choreographer, he has developed a broad vision of his art, going so far as to transform the Centre chorégraphique national de Rennes et de Bretagne, where he has been director since 2009, into the Musée de la danse. This space of effervescent exprimentation is a crossroads, a centre for encounters among all sorts – audiences, artists, intellectuals – so as to expand and open up the perspectives of dance.