Choreography by William Petit 

A choreographic extract remodelled by the group Litchis/Papayes (Marseille), coordinator Élise Tomatis, as part of the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme (2014) (a programme created to assist and promote amateur dancing).

The group
For more than ten years now, the classes given by Élise Tomatis at the Centre Social Del Rio, in the La Viste suburb of Marseille, give the lie to the cliché that assigns the exclusive practice of hip-hop to young people from the Marseille northern suburbs. Four years ago, these contemporary dance classes resulted in the formation of the group Litchis/Papayes. Some fifteen girls in their late teens and young adults work within this group in a weekly workshop, to produce their own choreographies, shown via dance network get-togethers on the territories. Participation in the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” project provides an opportunity for a new broadening of horizons, and already by the confrontation with a choreographic writing outside the group. 

The project
The author of East Land - Cabaret nomade, William Petit was directly involved in the project of the group Litchis/Papayes. Experienced in transmission techniques, the choreographer places the meeting at the heart of his concept of nomadism: relationships are just as intense with his female neighbours in Marseille as with people at the other end of the world. The chosen extract is the result of adaptations, at times marked by the turmoil specific to the context where it was played. It was necessary to switch from the participative three-frontal mechanism of the original piece to a classic separation between stage and auditorium, as well as to anchor the project to a set core of four interpreters. The aim of the process was to bring them closer to the conditions in which the original gestures had emerged.

The choreographer
William Petit created his company in 1991. Its name – Fabrik nomade – highlights the love of travel and meetings that drives the seething works of this choreographer. He is convinced that borders, those situations of rubbing against otherness, are the imaginary production point of greatly significant movements. East Land - Cabaret nomade is emblematic of this. Created in 2000, this piece does not merely recreate a night-time, musical and feverish memory, drawn from the frequent visits to a Serbian bar. In its original form, it draws into the dance the actual spectators, arranged around the artists. William Petit has great experience in the transmission of this piece, in a variety of contexts and countries.

William Petit created his company in 1991. Its name – Fabrik nomade – highlights the love of travel and meetings that drives the seething works of this choreographer. He is convinced that borders, those situations of rubbing against otherness, are the imaginary production point of greatly significant movements. East Land - Cabaret nomade is emblematic of this. Created in 2000, this piece does not merely recreate a night-time, musical and feverish memory, drawn from the frequent visits to a Serbian bar. In its original form, it draws into the dance the actual spectators, arranged around the artists. William Petit has great experience in the transmission of this piece, in a variety of contexts and countries.

From live stage images to life in images, the  director and video artist Karim Zeriahen seems to have found the  shortest way. Since the beginning of the 90s, when he worked in close  relationship with choreographer Philippe Decouflé, he learned how to put  the art of stage in motion, contemporary dance most of the time. Karim  Zeriahen then starts a fruitful collaboration with Montpellier based  choreographer Mathilde Monnier. Stop, Videlilah, day of night, short  films adapted from her stage creations. Each time, Karim Zeriahen's   camera takes over the place with movement, the body language is not  frozen but magnified. Choreographer Herman Diephuis also joins this  gallery of dancing portraits. Documentaries on figures such like Albert  Maysles or Hubert de Givenchy and from Joe Dalessandro to Paul  Morrissey, he sets a signature, a camera always in action with  confidence.

Today the director goes further with a new  project and tracks the subtle movements of the body language beyond the  physical appearance. A collection of living portraits as unique pièces  reminding us of the master portraitists of renaissance. These living  natures consists in filming the subject in a certain amount of time,  almost still, with signs of respiration, eye blinks, as if it were  posing for a painting. They are then displayed on a flat screen with a  memory card. With this collection starting, Karim Zeriahen, with his  documentary and artist vision, interrogates himself about the virtual  world filled with images. By taking a pause, and his models with him, he  questions the way we look at things, the way we look at life.

Source: Philippe Noisette 

En savoir plus: www.karimzeriahen.com

Amateur Dance and Repertory is a companion program to amateur practice beyond the dance class and the technical learning phase. Intended for groups of amateur dancers, it opens a space of sharing for those who wish to deepen a practice and a knowledge of the dance in relation to its history.

Laurent Barré
Head of Research and Choreographic Directories
Anne-Christine Waibel
Research Assistant and Choreographic Directories
+33 (0)1 41 83 43 96
danse-amateur-repertoire@cnd.fr

Source: CN D

More information: https://www.cnd.fr/en/page/323-danse-en-amateur-et-repertoire-grant-programme