[The Magic Flute] 

“I am a choreographer… in contemporary dance.  When I produced “Délicieuses” with five hip-hop dancers in January 2002, I didn't know whether this experiment would be a one-off or not. With the work finished, and after two years of touring, the group, the company and the choreography have matured. Curiosity and interest have grown. The whole company, hip-hop and contemporary dancers met, watched and valued each other. Everyone had fun with the Other's dance. We tried to get near it, sometimes imitate it. So it seemed to be the ideal moment for setting up the encounter, a new challenge: have the two teams initiate each other, mingle and create something different.

I looked for a playing field. After basing “Delights” on Johann Sebastian Bach's “Inventions”, I wanted to dig deeper into the rapports between hip-hop dance and classical music by going further and venturing into opera, to get to grips with a story and its characters. Mozart's “The Magic Flute” was an easy choice that I made without hesitation, because this opera tells the story of an initiation, and this was at the heart of our studio work and the driving force behind our show. It is also popular opera at its best: an extravaganza, a fantasy tale written for the widest appeal, varied in colour, combining multiple influences and musical forms. There are lots of characters, situations, landscapes and an action-packed plot. The roles are not cast once and for all to individuals, but often doubled, sometimes tripled or played by the entire group. An ideal ground for playful encounters, comic situations, a profusion of colours… a magic flute.”

Nathalie Pernette

Updating: March 2010

Challenge, blows received, given, hand to hand with the invisible, a raw energy carved by meticulous movements.

As well as manipulating others' bodies to capture their articular mobility, Nathalie Pernette anchors movement in spontaneity, the emotional discharge fed by interior sensation.

In this dancer-choreographer, classically trained since childhood, dance is nimbly embodied, verylintense and angular. Instinct and discipline against a background of permanent enquiry. Her time at Françoise and Dominique Dupuy's school only confirmed this zeal.

After working for twelve years with Andréas Schmid, she founded her own company in 2001 and kept up the repertoire of earlier works.

Whether out and about in town or on stage, Nathalie Pernette is always alert, always testing her theories, pursuing her obsessions. At length, with passion and with that dose of lucidity befitting a true researcher's spirit that is never satisfied. Over sixteen years and sixteen shows (six of which were in partnership with Andréas Schmid), Nathalie Pernette has turned work into a virtue.

Further information

compagnie-pernette.com

Updating: November 2010

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).