“In my shows, I always say “I” through other persons than myself. My individuality blends into the scenic multiplicity: the dancers' bodies and voices and also the music, the lighting, the décor… Each of my works is underpinned by an autobiographical dramaturgy, like a main theme that becomes more and more visible with time”. “L'oubli, toucher du bois” epitomizes this introspective dimension. Like a type of inquiry that Christian Rizzo takes on, starting off by emptying his mind. Objects that have survived former shows are removed one by one: goodbye to the green plant, goodbye to the black sphere, goodbye to his personal mythologies… The dancers move in a big wooden box – a mental space haunted by the fear of death. The ghosts of his memories, of those still alive, of those long-gone, of places and of times, everything that has life laid down on him and that he put back on stage, throng here. The writing of the show equates actions and observations by arranging compositions of regards, in particular seen through the eyes of this aging character played by Jean-Louis Badet, a body frozen in a silent torment. Around him, the dancers accomplish a myriad of divisions, of split personalities, becoming successively shadows of their former selves, shadows of the others. The intoxicating repetition of certain gestural patterns sways between the erratic and drumming notes of a piano that the soundtrack, composed by Sylvain Chauveau, distils. Christian Rizzo wagers on our ability to let go so that a dull emotion intensely buried deep inside of us may vibrate. His shows unfurl based on logic of sensation rather than one of signification.
Poetics of the senses rather than of sense.

COSMIC REBIRTH

This does not mean that the action is subjected to emphatic registers. The bodies entwine, support one another, raise one another up, disentwine sometimes with sensitivity, sometimes with a perfunctory roughness. Incongruous sequences, like those tango steps danced back to back, offload the gravity attached to ceremonials. The situations are put under pressure with suspense that is a touch somnambulistic. As Christian Rizzo explains: “I like to work in what Stanley Kubrick called, when he talked about the last scene of “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “the fertile zone of ambiguity”. The sequence of the old man faced with the monolith is forever prompting a powerful fascination on my imagination”. At the end of “l'oubli, toucher du bois”, the lights of Caty Olive set out to storm the regard in a cosmic ray way. Like the promise of a rebirth.

Source : Stéphane Malfettes for the Théâtre de la Ville

Christian Rizzo was born in 1965 in Cannes. His artistic career began in Toulouse, where he started a rock band and designed a line of clothing, after which he studied fine arts at the Villa d'Arson in Nice, then unexpectedly branched out into dance.

In the 90s he performed with a number of contemporary choreographers including mathilde monnier, herve robbe, mark tompkins and georges appaix, and sometimes created soundtracks and costumes for them as well.

He also worked with choreographers with a different artistic approach, such as vera mantero, catherine contour, emmanuelle huynh and rachid ouramdane.

In 1996 he founded l'association fragile and began presenting events, dancing objects, solos and group pieces, as well as various projects and commissioned work in fashion and the visual arts.

Since then, over thirty projects have borne fruit, not counting his pedagogical activities. Christian rizzo teaches on a regular basis in art schools in France and abroad, as well as in establishments devoted to contemporary dance.

On January 1st, 2015, Christian Rizzo takes the lead of the National Choreographic Center of Montpellier. Now called ICI (International Choreographic Institute), the CCN offers a transversal vision of creation, training, artistic education and openness to the public.

Source : Website of ICI, CCN of Montpellier

More information :

http://ici-ccn.com/

http://www.lassociationfragile.com/

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