This film is inspired by the show by Christian Bourigault L'Auto-portrait de 1917 d'Egon Schiele, a serenely tortured solo that captured from inside the painter’s torments. 

 On stage, Christian Bourigault was face to face with himself, inspired by the destructured poses of the Viennese expressionist painter, who was imprisoned for pornography and died from Spanish flu at the age of 28. Gilles Moisset transposes the solo by multiplying the mirror effects, pushing the principle until he causes the dancer and his double to fade away by video effects (in particular “morphing”). By so doing, he moves away from the introspective character of dance that has difficulty leaving the body to inhabit the surrounding space.

Source : Fabienne Arvers

Christian Bourigault choreographs vibrant dances that are set in motion, where risk-taking and expectation go hand-in-hand with pleasure and accessibility. His constant preoccupation with transmitting his knowledge to as many people as possible is inherent to his work.

Christian Bourigault created the Compagnie de l’Alambic in October 1990 with a first solo: L’Autoportrait de 1917, which focused on the work of the painter Egon Schiele. His work switches between solo creations that question the relationship between abstraction and theatricality in choreographic writing and group creations related to the world issues that he is obsessed with, which he calls “identity tensions”.

Thus, as a direct response to the war in ex-Yugoslavia and to the first massacres in Vukovar, he created the Apocalypse joyeuse in 1991 (honoured with the Prix Léonard de Vinci by the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the SACD Young Authors Award and the SPEDIDAM Award at the 3rd Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales (International Choreographic Encounters) of Seine-Saint-Denis). He has created around twenty choreographic works, which have been performed on French and international stages.

Alongside his theatre work, the choreographer has been creating different ways for sharing his dance research since 2003: chantier Fiat Lux (2003-2005), research collective on the relationship between light and movement, Vis à Vis… (eight performers-2005), a programme focusing on a one spectator/one performer relationship, Princesse Métamorphée (solo-2008), Sur un air deux… (duo-2010), choreography for public spaces and Les Commandos poétiques du mouvement (2010), performances in urban areas for 5 to 30 performers.

Source : Collectif 12 's website

More information

collectif12.org

A graduate of ENSAD, Gilles Moisset began his career at the end of the 80's directing films of Art video and contemporary dance, with the desire to always make original work. He has collaborated with many choreographers, including Christian Bourigault, Elsa Wolliaston or Catherine Diverrès.

Source : Gilles Moisset