Artistic direction : Clément Debailleul and Raphaël Navarro

Creation: 2000

Clément Debailleul and Raphaël Navarro share the experience of having been carried away by magic; a new kind of magic that creates surprise, sweeps our points of reference away and questions the invisible, magic that awakens our senses to everything that is marvellous. Their career has been filled with prestigious partnerships, for example with the fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, the writer and poet Michel Butor, the choreographer Philippe Decouflé; projects galore… and eleven years ago the creation of their own company with their accomplice and administrator Manuel Chesneau. At precisely 14:20 in Rouen.

Surrounded by experienced artists, creative technicians, a passionate ethnologist, they campaign for an art that emancipates our emotions. Their encounter was edifying: during the Contemporary Circus Festival in Auch, the 16 year old, self-taught Raphaël, who was passionate about juggling and magic, and the 15 year old Clément, a hardworking pupil in a local district circus school. Both arrived with their ideas for a solo in their heads: a tale of wind that blows through the hands, a shower of phosphorescent balls in the dark: these two were just meant to meet.

Since then, they have continued to let their story unfold… Since 2001, under the name of Cie 14:20, Raphaël and Clément have created around thirty pieces of work (performances, installations, short pieces, long works, etc.).
In 2004, they created “Solo's” on stage: a nocturnal journey where magic accompanies the other arts – plastic, poetic and video. “In the end, all of our work involves going back to the spirit of ancient magic whilst applying cutting-edge techniques”.

In 2008, they began writing their “Vibrations” project, whose version “Eclats” was released in 2009, the version “Monolithe” in 2010 and the version “Scène” in 2011. This performance proposes a journey into this distinctive language where diversion of reality is imagined as an artistic challenge and where the body is no longer restrained by reality.

In 2010, the company created a duo for a juggler and a dancer: “Notte”, which illustrates the work on stars that the company had undertaken since the very beginning.

Furthermore, in 2009, the company imagined and asked the workshops of the Rouen Opera to create the “Monolithe” for them, a gigantic glassy black box designed as a mobile theatre, a genuine architectural sculpture that was destined to become a Laboratoire d'Expérimentation magique (Magic Experimentation Laboratory).

They have also been called upon to create plastic art installations: in 2006, the Rouen City Hall gave them carte blanche to create a sensorial installation for Pierre Corneille's birthplace. The following year, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris organized its famous “Gaultier-Chopinot: le Défilé” exhibition, for which Jean-Paul Gaultier asked the company to create a magical scenography. In 2010, the Museum of Fine Arts of Rouen invited 14:20 to create a holographic guide for the flagship exhibition of its “Normandie Impressioniste” event.

Since 2010, the company has been called upon to direct and artistically coordinate certain one-off events such as the Fnac's autumn literary season, the launch of the Printemps des poètes festival, the press launch of Cacharel's new perfume and the Avignon forum.

The company has been running a vocational training course (AFDAS) on the Magie nouvelle (contemporary magic) at the National Centre for Circus Arts in Châlons-en-Champagne since 2005 and it works regularly with circus schools (Lido, Fratellini Academy, etc.) and universities (Lille 3, Lyon 2, etc.). In 2012, it initiated a “research partnership” with the Higher National School of Theatre Techniques and Arts (ENSATT), formerly known as “Rue Blanche”, established in Lyon since 1997 and currently run by Thierry Pariente.

It has partnered with a myriad of cultural establishments such as the Douai Hippodrome, the Channel in Calais, the Onde in Vélizy, the Théâtre National de Chaillot, the Dance Biennial in Lyon and the Lieu Unique in Nantes. In 2012, the company became “associate artist” at the Centquatre in Paris.

14:20 is backed by the City of Rouen, the Seine-Maritime Department, the Upper Normandy Region and the Upper Normandy Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC).

Source: Cie 14:20 's website

More information

1420.fr