Codex
1987 - Director : Picq, Charles
Choreographer(s) : Decouflé, Philippe (France)
Present in collection(s): Maison de la Danse de Lyon , Saisons 1980 > 1989 , Saisons 1990 > 1999
Video producer : Compagnie DCA
Integral video available at Maison de la danse de Lyon
Codex
1987 - Director : Picq, Charles
Choreographer(s) : Decouflé, Philippe (France)
Present in collection(s): Maison de la Danse de Lyon , Saisons 1980 > 1989 , Saisons 1990 > 1999
Video producer : Compagnie DCA
Integral video available at Maison de la danse de Lyon
Codex
Codex, created in 1986 in Amsterdam and presented at the Avignon Festival, is inspired by an encyclopaedia drawn at the end of the seventies by a young Italian, Luigi Séraphini - the Codex Serafinianus – overflowing with fantasy animals, imaginary plants and living vegetables.
Source : Arte.tv
Decouflé, Philippe
Dancer, choreographer, director and art director
As a child, I dreamt of becoming a comic book artist. Drawing is usually the start of my creative process. I just throw out ideas and sketch out pictures that pass through my head. My culture is comics, musicals, nightclub dancing, and also Oskar Schlemmer, the Bauhaus choreographer. Discovering photos of characters from his Triadisches Ballett was a revelation for me. I had always wanted to work with simple geometric shapes like cubes and triangles. I liked seeing how these lines and volumes behaved with each other. Alwin Nikolaïs taught me the importance of light and costume, and the confidence you need to mix everything together. Technically, it was Merce Cunningham who taught me the most about dance. I was taking video courses he was giving in New York. It was fascinating. That’s where I learned how to solve problems of distance and geometry, and the basic principles of optics and movement. Tex Avery inspired me a lot in thinking up gestures that are almost impossible to do. I’ve always kept something of that desire to create something strange, extreme or crazy in my movements. I’m looking for a dance style that’s off-balance, always on the verge of toppling over. With influences like the Marx Brothers, for example, and in particular Groucho Marx, I’ve developed a taste for naughty risk-taking, and comic repetition of mistakes.
Source : Philippe Découflé
More information : cie-dca.com
Picq, Charles
Author, filmmaker and video artist Charles Picq (1952-2012) entered working life in the 70s through theatre and photography. A- fter resuming his studies (Maîtrise de Linguistique - Lyon ii, Maîtrise des sciences et Techniques de la Communication - grenoble iii), he then focused on video, first in the field of fine arts at the espace Lyonnais d'art Contemporain (ELAC) and with the group « Frigo », and then in dance.
On creation of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon in 1980, he was asked to undertake a video documentation project that he has continued ever since. During the ‘80s, a decade marked in France by the explosion of contemporary dance and the development of video, he met numerous artists such as andy Degroat, Dominique Bagouet, Carolyn Carlson, régine Chopinot, susanne Linke, Joëlle Bouvier and regis Obadia, Michel Kelemenis. He worked in the creative field with installations and on-stage video, as well as in television with recorded shows, entertainment and documentaries.
His work with Dominique Bagouet (80-90) was a unique encounter. He documents his creativity, assisting with Le Crawl de Lucien and co-directing with his films Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux and 10 anges. in the 90s he became director of video development for the Maison de la Danse and worked, with the support of guy Darmet and his team, in the growing space of theatre video through several initiatives:
- He founded a video library of dance films with free public access. This was a first for France. Continuing the video documentation of theatre performances, he organised their management and storage.
- He promoted the creation of a video-bar and projection room, both dedicated to welcoming school pupils.
- He started «présentations de saisons» in pictures.
- He oversaw the DVD publication of Le tour du monde en 80 danses, a pocket video library produced by the Maison de la Danse for the educational sector.
- He launched the series “scènes d'écran” for television and online. He undertook the video library's digital conversion and created Numeridanse.
His main documentaries are: enchaînement, Planète Bagouet, Montpellier le saut de l'ange, Carolyn Carlson, a woman of many faces, grand ecart, Mama africa, C'est pas facile, Lyon, le pas de deux d'une ville, Le Défilé, Un rêve de cirque.
He has also produced theatre films: Song, Vu d'ici (Carolyn Carlson), Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux, 10 anges, Necesito and So schnell, (Dominique Bagouet), Im bade wannen, Flut and Wandelung (Susanne Linke), Le Cabaret Latin (Karine Saporta), La danse du temps (Régine Chopinot), Nuit Blanche (Abou Lagraa), Le Témoin (Claude Brumachon), Corps est graphique (Käfig), Seule et WMD (Françoise et Dominique Dupuy), La Veillée des abysses (James Thiérrée), Agwa (Mourad Merzouki), Fuenteovejuna (Antonio Gades), Blue Lady revistied (Carolyn Carlson).
Source: Maison de la Danse de Lyon
Codex
Choreography : Philippe Decouflé
Interpretation : Compagnie DCA
Additionnal music : Fats Domino, Oum Kasloum
Production / Coproduction of the choreographic work : Festival d'Avignon, Holland Festival, DCA
Production / Coproduction of the video work : DCA, Maison de la Danse
Duration : 60'
Western classical dance enters the modernity of the 20th century: The Ballets russes and the Ballets suédois
If the 19th century is that of romanticism, the entry into the new century is synonymous of modernity! It was a few decades later that it would be assigned, a posteriori, the name of “neo-classical”.
LATITUDES CONTEMPORAINES
Bagouet Collection
The committed artist
In all the arts and here especially in dance, the artist sometimes creates to defend a cause, to denounce a fact, to disturb, to shock. Here is a panorama of some "committed" choreographic creations.
The BNP Paribas Foundation
CHRISTIAN & FRANÇOIS BEN AÏM – VITAL MOMENTUM
[1970-2018] Neoclassical developments: They spread worldwide, as well as having multiple repertoires and dialogues with contemporary dance.
In the 1970s, artists’ drive towards a new classic had been ongoing for more than a half century and several generations had already formed since the Russian Ballets. As the years went by, everyone defended or defends classical dance as innovative, unique, connected to the other arts and the preoccupations of its time.
les ballets C de la B and the aesthetic of reality
Why do I dance ?
Artistic Collaborations
Panorama of different artistic collaborations, from « couples » of choreographers to creations involving musicians or plasticians
Dance and performance
Here is a sample of extracts illustrating burlesque figures in Performances.
Round dance
Presentation of the Round’s figure in choreography.
The Dance Biennale
Female / male
A walk between different conceptions and receptions of genres in different styles and eras of dance.
Dance and visual arts
Dance and visual arts have often been inspiring for each other and have influenced each other. This Parcours can not address all the forms of their relations; he only tries to show the importance of plastic creation in some choreographies.
Contemporary Italian Dance : the 2000s
Panorama of contemporary dance practices in Italy during the 2000s.
Hip hop / Influences
This Course introduce to what seems to be Hip Hop’s roots.
Contemporary techniques
This Parcours questions the idea that contemporary dance has multiples techniques. Different shows car reveal or give an idea about the different modes of contemporary dancer’s formations.