Chalet 1
2015 - Director : Plasson, Fabien
Choreographer(s) : Plassard, Denis (France)
Present in collection(s): Maison de la Danse de Lyon , Saisons 2010 > 2019
Video producer : Maison de la Danse
Chalet 1
2015 - Director : Plasson, Fabien
Choreographer(s) : Plassard, Denis (France)
Present in collection(s): Maison de la Danse de Lyon , Saisons 2010 > 2019
Video producer : Maison de la Danse
Chalet 1
Chalet 1, by the writer André Baillon, owes its title to the little chalets of Salpêtrière Hospital. It was written after a time spent on the ward of the petits mentaux, or those with 'milder' mental illnesses. 'Chalet 1' is a mosaic of short scenes describing daily life in the hospital, with portraits of patients and doctors whose humour lightens the darkness. Jean Martin (a sort of double of André Baillon) is the narrator of the tale made up of short chapters with a restrained, pithy and very spoken style.
A choreographed choir
The three performers each sit on a stool, as though for a psychiatric consultation or to give evidence. They talk together in unison, or share Baillon's incisive text through an often musical form of dialogue. The three voices are complementary and contradictory. They give us the impression of listening to the chaotic thoughts of the patient Jean Martin. We follow his racing thoughts, his interminable misgivings and his contradictory points of view on the nurses, his companions or himself. The set is rudimentary: three performers and three stools. The bodies are both the sounding boards of the remarks and the staging of the mental film that is projected. The movement is organised into a demented choreography that is as precise and original as the text. Little by little, the bodies take up more and more space, they upset, contradict or reinforce their words without ever falling into a stereotypical or hysterical gestural representation of madness; on the contrary, they reinforce the humanity and humour of the author. The movements are the music of the text, complementary but never decorative or illustrative. Gestures and words are synchronised with obsessive meticulousness to the point of making the contortions and convulsions seem perfectly natural. With total scenographic sobriety and strictly limited effects, the body and voice of the sick Jean Martin are augmented. At the heart of all this is the notion of ambiguity, of the multiplicity and complexity of the individual.
The text
I have been haunted by the ghost of a choir of actors, minutely choreographed, for over ten years. Without any idea of the text, the vision of a choral score for both voice and body imposed itself upon me. With this project I am therefore returning to an old love for a text and a choreographed stage play ('Le Terrier', 'Jours'). That said, I am taking a new approach that places the group at the heart of the writing. The discovery of this text by André Baillon was the trigger. It clearly represents an ideal crossover between a long-standing formal desire and my current preoccupation with rift, turmoil and ambiguity. Here, in a limited space, between the walls of the Salpêtrière (or the 'pétète' as it was known on the inside), is a little play that is madly human – simply human.
Plassard, Denis
Denis Plassard started to dance on a misunderstanding : wrapped up in crepe paper for the "End of the Year Show" in primary school, he was convinced that the steps meant something and that putting them together was just like writing sentences to tell a story... Since then, a question (a bit odd for a dancer/choreographer) haunts him: what does the movement mean? What do we say when we move?
He then decided to study dance and entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Lyon. After he graduated, he danced for 2 seasons with Josette Baïz's company in Aix-en-Provence.
In 1991, at the age of 23, he set up his own company named after his first solo, “Propos”, which was created the year before. Very early in his choreographic career, he tried to create dynamic links between speech and movement and his work focused on the connection between "Dance and Text". His choreographic writing is precise, sharp and very theatrical, and his style is quirky and full of humour and derision. Prolific choreographer and eager dancer, he enjoys being confronted with new universes and is continually looking for artistic meetings and crossroads between different aesthetics.
From Kafka to Mermet, from Bizet to Labiche, from the stage to the circus ring, he keeps having new ideas that mix hip-hop, circus, music, theatre and dance.
Source : The company Propos 's website
More information : compagnie-propos.com
Plasson, Fabien
Born in 1977, Fabien Plasson is a video director specialized in the field of performing arts (dance , music, etc).
During his studies at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (joined in 1995) Fabien discovered video art. He was trained by various video artists (Joel Bartoloméo Pascal Nottoli , Eric Duyckaerts , etc) .
He first experimented with the creation of installations and cinematic objects.
From 2001 to 2011, he was in charge of Ginger & Fred video Bar’s programming at La Maison de la Danse in Lyon. He discovered the choreographic field and the importance of this medium in the dissemination, mediation and pedagogical approach to dance alongside Charles Picq, who was a brilliant video director and the director of the video department at that time.
Today, Fabien Plasson is the video director at La Maison de la Danse and in charge of the video section of Numeridanse.tv, an online international video library, and continues his creative activities, making videos of concerts, performances and also creating video sets for live performances.
Sources: Maison de la Danse ; Fabien Plasson website
More information: fabione.fr
Chalet 1
Choreography : Pierre-Jean Étienne, Denis Plassard, Jean-Philippe Salério
Stage direction : Denis Plassard
Text : Chalet 1 d’André Baillon - première publication : 1926 - Ed. Rieder (Paris) réédité en 2009 aux Éditions Cambourakis (Paris)
Lights : Dominique Ryo
Costumes : Béatrice Vermande, Julie Lascoumes
Settings : Yves Perey (Tabourets)
Other collaborations : Cie Propos et Éric Dutriévoz (régie générale)
Production / Coproduction of the choreographic work : Coproduction Théâtre Jean Vilar / Bourgoin-Jallieu, Compagnie Propos - Spectacle créé en résidence au Toboggan /Décines
Production / Coproduction of the video work : Maison de la Danse - 2015
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”.
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.
Indian dances
Discover Indian dance through choreographic creations which unveil it, evoke it, revisit it or transform it!
les ballets C de la B and the aesthetic of reality
Why do I dance ?
Dance and performance
Here is a sample of extracts illustrating burlesque figures in Performances.
Les Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis
Vlovajobpru company
40 years of dance and music
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.
Body and conflicts
A look on the bonds which appear to emerge between the dancing body and the world considered as a living organism.
The national choreographic centres
Modern Dance and Its American Roots [1900-1930] From Free Dance to Modern Dance
At the dawn of the 20th century, in a rapidly changing West, a new dance appeared: Modern Dance. In the United States as in Europe, modern trends emerge simultaneously and intertwine in thier development. Let's dive into the beginnings of American modern dance!
Genesis of work
A dance show is created in multiples steps between the enunciation of an initial desire which launch the project and the first representation. This parcours presents diff
Dancing bodies
Focus on the variety of bodies offered by contemporary dance and how to show these bodies: from complete nudity to the body completely hidden or covered.
Dance at the crossroad of the arts
Some shows are the meeting place of different trades. Here is a preview of some shows where the arts intersect on the stage of a choreographic piece.
Reinterpreting works: Swan Lake, Giselle
Some great shows are revisited through the centuries. Here are two examples of pieces reinterpreted by different choreographers.
Genres and styles
Dance is a rather vast term, which covers a myriad of specificities. These depend on the culture of a country, on a period, on a place. This Journey proposes a visit through dance genres and styles.