Two well-known choreographers Angelin Preljocaj and Rachid Ouramdane, each with their own precise style, deal in a creation for the National Choreographic Centre of Reggio Emilia with some extraordinarily interesting themes, and not only artistic ones. The transformation of the body with age, the concepts of beauty and virtuosity, the self-representation by each of us of our own age.
Ageing is not a problem for the actor, the writer or the visual artist: on the contrary, we often see expressive palettes enriched. But in dance, which is an artistic and universal language, are we perhaps anchored (and limited) by the same conception of performativity as in sport?
Senior performers (dancers and non-dancers): this is the artistic heart of a broad project that addresses a theme from the point of view of dance. To the proposal to create beyond certain boundaries, the two choreographers responded with their own generosity, curiosity and intellectual energy. Unlike other important experiences, which have extended their careers to nuclei of dancers, in this project the objective is poetic, and crystallises truly universal questions. The central one is suggested to us precisely by Preljocaj: what is the age of a body?
The performance is an international co-production, and opens up to the dimension of research, workshops and meetings dedicated to the theme, thanks to its scientific partner: the Fondazione Ravasi Garzanti in Milan.
A co-production that brings together important theatres and companies, in addition to the Ravasi Garzanti. With the Fondazione Nazionale della Danza / Aterballetto there are the Ballet Preljocaj (Aix-en-Provence), Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse (Paris), Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT/Teatro Nazionale (Modena), Festival Aperto / Fondazione I Teatri (Reggio Emilia), Centro Servizi Culturali Santa Chiara (Trento).
Nominee for FEDORA – VAN CLEEF & ARPELS DANCE PRIZE 2022
Co-funded by the European Union’s CREATIVE EUROPE programme
(Fedora crowdfunding campaign from 23 September to 30 November)
Un jour nouveau / Birthday Party
(OVER DANCE)
Choreographies Rachid Ouramdane, Angelin Preljocaj
Production: Fondazione Nazionale della Danza / Aterballetto (Reggio Emilia)
Supporter and scientific partner: Fondazione Ravasi Garzanti (Milan)
Coproduction: Ballet Preljocaj (Aix-en-Provence), Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse (Paris), Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT/Teatro Nazionale (Modena), Festival Aperto / Fondazione I Teatri (Reggio Emilia), Centro Servizi Culturali Santa Chiara (Trento)
In partnership with Comune di Reggio Emilia and Farmacie Comunali Riunite
Première: 15 February 2023, Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse, Paris
(performances on 16-17-18-21-22-23/02)
2-3- 4 March 2023, Pavillon Noir, Aix-en-Provence
12 March 2023, Arena del Sole, Bologna
Nominee for FEDORA – VAN CLEEF & ARPELS DANCE PRIZE 2022
Co-funded by the European Union’s CREATIVE EUROPE programme
Choreography: Rachid Ouramdane
Original music: Jean-Baptiste Julien
Additional music: Sam Cooke (Everybody loves to Cha Cha Cha), Stephen Sondheim (testo da Send in the Clowns)
Lighting design: Stéphane Graillot
Choreographer’s assistant: Mayalen Otondo
Dancers: Darryl E. Woods and Herma Vos
15’
There is no dance without a body, and there is no body that does not age. Aging of the body is often perceived as regression, yet many dancers have reinvented themselves as they age. For example, Kazuo Ohno’s butō reminds us that aging does not necessarily mean surrendering or weakening physically. It does not feel like an end but rather a beginning, like an echo of a song by Etienne Daho, Le premier jour du reste de ta vie, which evokes the passing of time and the beginning of things.
I perceived this antagonism in my meeting with Herma Vos and Darryl E. Woods, who already have long artistic careers. Talking with them, seeing them dance, evoked many resilience skills in the face of life events. Surprisingly, as we were working on a piece that probes the passage of time, they suggested I suspend it.
Rachid Ouramdane
Choreography: Angelin Preljocaj
Music: 79D
Additional music: Anton Bruckner, Józef Plawiński, Paul Williams, Lee Hazlewood, Johann-Sebastian Bach, Maxime Loaëc, Craig Armstrong, Stinky Toys
Lighting design: Eric Soyer
Costume design: Eleonora Peronetti
Choreographer’s assistant: Claudia De Smet, Macha Daudel
Dancers: Mario Barzaghi, Sabina Cesaroni, Patricia Dedieu, Roberto Maria Macchi, Elli Medeiros, Thierry Parmentier, Marie-Thérèse Priou, Bruce Taylor
50’
Every year, on a fixed day, our birthday adds a unit to the score of our existence.
But what is the age of a body? Is it the biological age or the age associated with the practice of its activity? Is it the age that others ascribe to it or the age that the being in this body feels?
I wanted to share this question with people who have had the privilege, and in a sense the opportunity, to go through different ages of life.
In this project, the eight performers, ranging in age from 67 to 80, try to answer it, and could well echo Spinoza’s phrase “the soul is a thought of the body…”
What thought do these bodies generate? How can they move us away from preconceived ideas, how can we develop specific choreographic writing and thus try to approach the limits of these aging bodies?…but mostly by having fun with them, as at a birthday party that takes the form of an exorcism that takes us into the interstices of time of a human life.
Angelin Preljocaj
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