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danse de nuit

Boris Charmatz, Musée de la danse

Six dancers on a square in the city, in the open air. They are performing Boris Charmatz’ new piece, danse de nuit. Using minimal resources, they are dancing a brutal choreography. They also talk, including the words of an emergency doctor after the shooting at the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Charmatz – his exceptional performances making him a Holland Festival favourite – is now exploring the limits of what is permissible behaviour. What do we do when we are confronted with brutal violence in our society? What chance does civilised behaviour have? Programme

dates

Thu June 8 2017 10:30 PM

Fri June 9 2017 10:30 PM

Sat June 10 2017 10:30 PM

information

  • English

  • Duration of performance unknown (geen pauze)

The French choreographer and dancer Boris Charmatz is returning to Holland Festival this year with danse de nuit, a free evening performance at the Anton de Komplein in South East Amsterdam. Under the light of the street lamps, six dancers present a raw

The French choreographer and dancer Boris Charmatz is returning to Holland Festival this year with danse de nuit, a free evening performance at the Anton de Komplein in South East Amsterdam. Under the light of the street lamps, six dancers present a raw

choreography on the hard paving stones, in combination with a partially improvised, rapidly emitted stream of sounds and words. Sometimes comprehensible, other times not, like beatboxers without a sense of rhythm. While their bodies come together, they cover topical issues about the art of political cartoons, the massacre at the French weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo and the fear of terrorist attacks.

All-rounder Charmatz – besides dancer and choreographer, curator and artistic director at the Musée de la danse – uses his work to explore the relationship between dance, visual arts and theory. He tries to undermine the expectations of the audience and he enjoys breaking the prevailing rules of theatre in order to find new opportunities for dance. His work often revolves around a simple idea, which is used as a framework for all movements that result from it. An example of this is Levée des conflits (2010), a canon of 25 gestures that are repeated by 24 dancers like a maelstrom. Or manger, a radical 'sculpture of movement' based on three (almost incompatible) human actions: eating, moving and singing. During the Holland Festival 2015, manger was performed on the flat floor of the Zuiveringshal West, a bare industrial space without any seats. The performers moved about among the standing audience, and Charmatz fell in love with the possibilities of an open stage floor. In danse de nuit, he continues his work on this theme. 

Visually, Charmatz was inspired by Rembrandt's iconic Nachtwacht, the 17th-century vigilante who steps out of the dark into the light. Charmatz's new choreography aims to be just as unforced, but is not improvised. The austere movements are adapted to the specific public space, the influence of the audience, the weather and the energy of the city. Just like Rembrandt's militia and our present-day police officers who try to maintain order, dancers also have a role to play in public spaces, Charmatz explains, 'In the public sphere in France and Europe, we are pursued by unknown bodies. There's a sense of insecurity and danger. But I have the idea that artists as well as members of the public can discover new ways to come together in public spaces.'

danse de nuit is based around three main themes. The first revolves around determining the limits of the public space and what can and cannot be shown in public. As a second theme, the choreography uses the firmness of the ground. Thirdly, the use of the voice and text fragments.

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credits

interpretation Olga Dukhovnaya, Julien Gallée-Ferré, Alexis Hedouin, Jolie Ngemi, Marlène Saldana, Régis Badel choreography Boris Charmatz light design Yves Godin lightcarriers (Amsterdam) Birger van Severen, Lee Hayes, Roeland Hoekstra, Ruben Lanzieri costumes Jean-Paul Lespagnard vocal training Dalila Khatir glossolalia improvisaties van dansers, Tim Etchells, Erasure, Hands Touching, Move and Starfucker, woorden van Patrick Pelloux in Radio France Inter op 8 januari 2015, Boris Charmatz, Robert Barry, Marc Gremillon, Bruno Lopes, Didier Morville, Thierry Moutoussamy, Bruce Nauman, Christophe Tarkos, een Franse telrijm stage manager Fabrice Le Fur light operator Mélissandre Halbert dresser Marion Régnier rehearsal coach touring Magali Caillet-Gajan producer Sandra Neuveut, Amélie-Anne Chapelain, Martina Hochmuth production Musée de la danse / Centre chorégraphique national de Rennes et de Bretagne funded by the Ministerie van Cultuur en Communicatie, la Ville de Rennes, the Regional Council of Brittany, Ille-et-Vilaine Departemental Council with the support of Institut Français, the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès program “New Settings” coproduction Taipei Performing Arts Center, Sadler’s Wells Londen, la Bâtie-Festival de Genève, Théâtre de la Ville & Festival d’Automne à Paris, Théâtre National de Bretagne-Rennes, Onassis Cultural Centre Athens thanks to Le Triangle-cité de la danse, Rosas, WIELS Centre d'Art Contemporain (Bruxelles), Arnaud Godest, Perig Menez, Ashley Chen, Peggy Grelat-Dupont, Mani Mungai with the kind authorization by Tim Etchells voor het gebruik van zijn teksten

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