Skip to main content
Back to search
  • Add to playlist

Caramba

Ministère de la Culture 1986

Choreographer(s) : Decouflé, Philippe (France)

Present in collection(s): Ministère de la Culture

Video producer : Gédéon, Cie DCA, Arcanal

en fr

Caramba

Ministère de la Culture 1986

Choreographer(s) : Decouflé, Philippe (France)

Present in collection(s): Ministère de la Culture

Video producer : Gédéon, Cie DCA, Arcanal

en fr

Caramba

Caramba, a troupe with an operetta name, performs in an old abandoned building. A big-eared reporter is the only spectator of this eclectic revue. A moustachioed musician on springs turns into an alligator, a doll wiggles to the rattling of a washing machine… Dumbfounded, the reporter flees to the last bars of a funny and rhythmical Zulu finale.


 The first cinematographic fiction directed by the future choreographer of Codex, Triton and of the Albertville Winter Olympics ceremony. Humour, poetry and acrobatics are all present in the wild imagination of this natural image maker. A colourful film that cultivates a difficult genre: humour and fantasy.


Source : Patrick Bossatti

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

Caramba

Artistic direction / Conception : Philippe Découflé

Interpretation : Christophe Salengro, Janet Latimer, Philippe Découflé, Michèle Prelonge, Angelica Chaves, Monet Robier, Veronique Ros de la Grange, Samuel Leborgne, Frederic Werle, Herman Diephuis, Denis Giuliani, Philippe Chevalier, Spot, Christophe Lidon

Original music : Hugues de Courson

Costumes : Philippe Guyotel

Settings : Cecile Frances, Minibrin, Olivier Crespin, Vlerick Verbrin, Gilles Nicolas

Production / Coproduction of the video work : Gedeon Production 86

Our videos suggestions
03:04

Lobby

Zebiri, Moncef (France)

  • Add to playlist
50:55

Mammame : Les enfants qui toussent (acte II)

Gallotta, Jean-Claude (France)

  • Add to playlist
04:39

Next Days

Robbe, Hervé (France)

  • Add to playlist
03:04

The Rite of Spring

Nijinsky, Vaslav (Monaco)

  • Add to playlist
02:27

Mammame's Childhood [teaser]

Gallotta, Jean-Claude (France)

  • Add to playlist
06:04

Adieu et merci

Laâbissi, Latifa (France)

  • Add to playlist
12:50

Extraits de répertoire

Preljocaj, Angelin (France)

  • Add to playlist
06:14

Terpsichore

Massin, Béatrice (France)

  • Add to playlist
06:19

Fantaisies

Massin, Béatrice (France)

  • Add to playlist
04:39

Hans was Heiri

Zimmermann, Martin (Switzerland)

  • Add to playlist
07:44

Douve

Julien, Tatiana (France)

  • Add to playlist
08:43

La nuit transfigurée

Saire, Philippe (France)

  • Add to playlist
53:00

Reamker, danse avec les dieux

  • Add to playlist
02:27

Azimut

Bory, Aurélien (France)

  • Add to playlist
03:00

Le Songe

Maillot, Jean-Christophe (Monaco)

  • Add to playlist
02:55

Cendrillon

Maillot, Jean-Christophe (Monaco)

  • Add to playlist
26:23

La dernière fuite

Verret, François (France)

  • Add to playlist
01:38:24

Opéra Goude - L'Aventure de la Marseillaise

Decouflé, Philippe (France)

  • Add to playlist
24:26

Triton

Decouflé, Philippe (France)

  • Add to playlist
Our themas suggestions

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”. 

Parcours

fr/en/

Bagouet Collection

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

The BNP Paribas Foundation

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

[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.

Parcours

fr/en/

Why do I dance ?

Social dances, anti-establishment, protest dances, rhythms or identities, rituals or pleasures... There are a myriad of reasons for dancing and a myriad of points of view. A webdoc to discover, enhanced with extracts from performances and accounts from amateurs... all the right reasons for dancing!

Webdoc

fr/en/

Artistic Collaborations

Panorama of different artistic collaborations, from « couples » of choreographers to creations involving musicians or plasticians

Parcours

fr/en/

Meeting with literature

Collaboration between a choreographer and a writer can lead to the emergence of a large number of combinations. If sometimes the choreographer creates his dance around the work of an author, the writer can also choose dance as the subject of his text.

Parcours

fr/en/

Dance and performance

 Here is a sample of extracts illustrating burlesque figures in Performances.

Parcours

fr/en/

Round dance

 Presentation of the Round’s figure in choreography.

Parcours

fr/en/

The Dance Biennale

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

Female / male

A walk between different conceptions and receptions of genres in different styles and eras of dance.

Parcours

fr/en/es/de/pl/pt-pt/

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.

Parcours

fr/en/es/de/pl/pt-pt/

Hand dances

This parcours presents different video extracts in which hands are the center of the mouvement.

Parcours

fr/en/

Hip hop / Influences

This Course introduce to what seems to be Hip Hop’s roots.

Parcours

fr/en/es/de/pl/pt-pt/

Arts of motion

Generally associated with circus arts, here is a Journey that will take you on a stroll through different artists from this world.

Parcours

fr/en/

Vlovajobpru company

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

VAISON DANSES

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

40 years of dance and music

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

The “Nouvelle Danse Française” of the 1980s

In France, at the beginning of the 1980s, a generation of young people took possession of the dancing body to sketch out  their unique take on the world. 

Parcours

fr/en/

The national choreographic centres

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/
By accessing the website, you acknowledge and accept the use of cookies to assist you in your browsing.
You can block these cookies by modifying the security parameters of your browser or by clicking onthis link.
I accept Learn more