Choreographic manifesto for the utopia of living

“Philosophers invited utopias,

great men, societies of equality,

architects, places with links,

inhabitants, large get-togethers.

LIEU d'ÊTRE projects a certain social affection, through the presence of artists in a single place, illustrating a feeling of belonging together, as one”.

A nomadic creation for cities, during broad daylight, out in the open air, LIEU d'ÊTRE embodies the story of populated places. This project/performance involves the residents of a building, of a district, a city and integrates them physically in the process of creation.

Beyond the performance-event, the aim is to recreate perceptible geography, that is interdependent, EXTRA-ordinary in the city by mixing together professional dancers and users of a same urban space in a collective artistic experience.

“A public journeying towards a meeting point, a human fresco danced on balconies, a table as the scene where friendships and revolutions are played out, an aerial ballet on the façade of buildings. LIEU d'ÊTRE is the saga of an ephemeral people where artists, residents involved and figurant dancers mix. A manifesto: set the environment, the collective in motion, a real social dream”. 

Source : Annick Charlot

After studying genetics in university, from 1986 she embraced a professional life in contemporary dance. After ten years as dancer with the Cie Hallet Eghayan in Lyon, since 2000 she has directed the Cie Acte for whom she has created more than 10 pieces, with many of them performed in and supported by the Biennale and the Maison de la Danse, in Lyon.
In 2008 she decided, with her team, to give the company a place to work, in Lyon, at the Studio des Hérideaux.
Her desire to communicate led her to put on workshops, dance conferences and master-classes (International Festival of Dance in Canton, China; ENSATT in Lyon; International Festival of Contemporary Dance in Freibourg, Germany; IRTS in Montrouge, etc.).
She feeds her artistic energy by working with researchers, architects, philosophers, urbanists, geographers… She is regularly invited to present her projects at public meetings (with in particular: Maud Le Floch, director of the Pôle des Arts Urbains; Pascal Lebrun-Cordier, artistic director of the ZAT in Montpellier and manager of Master Projets culturels dans l’espace public, at the Sorbonne (Paris); Dominique Pestre, science historian during a conference at the Musée des Confluences (Lyon); Raphaël Enthoven, the Nouveaux Chemins de la Connaissance on France Culture radio; Luc Gwiazdzinski, geographer, director of the Master Innovation et Territoire at the IGA in Grenoble…).
In 2013, she worked with the musicians of the Odyssée Ensemble & Cie and participated in their creation “Peplum”, for which she provided the choreography.

Source : The Cie Acte 's website

More information : compagnie-acte.fr

Author, filmmaker and video artist Charles Picq (1952-2012) entered working life in the 70s through theatre and photography. A- fter resuming his studies (Maîtrise de Linguistique - Lyon ii, Maîtrise des sciences et Techniques de la Communication - grenoble iii), he then focused on video, first in the field of fine arts at the espace Lyonnais d'art Contemporain (ELAC) and with the group « Frigo », and then in dance.
   On creation of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon in 1980, he was asked to undertake a video documentation project that he has continued ever since. During the ‘80s, a decade marked in France by the explosion of contemporary dance and the development of video, he met numerous artists such as andy Degroat, Dominique Bagouet, Carolyn Carlson, régine Chopinot, susanne Linke, Joëlle Bouvier and regis Obadia, Michel Kelemenis. He worked in the creative field with installations and on-stage video, as well as in television with recorded shows, entertainment and documentaries.

His work with Dominique Bagouet (80-90) was a unique encounter. He documents his creativity, assisting with Le Crawl de Lucien and co-directing with his films Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux and 10 anges. in the 90s he became director of video development for the Maison de la Danse and worked, with the support of guy Darmet and his team, in the growing space of theatre video through several initiatives:
       - He founded a video library of dance films with free public access. This was a first for France. Continuing the video documentation of theatre performances, he organised their management and storage.
       - He promoted the creation of a video-bar and projection room, both dedicated to welcoming school pupils.
       - He started «présentations de saisons» in pictures.
       - He oversaw the DVD publication of Le tour du monde en 80 danses, a pocket video library produced by the Maison de la Danse for the educational sector.

       - He launched the series “scènes d'écran” for television and online. He undertook the video library's digital conversion and created Numeridanse.

His main documentaries are: enchaînement, Planète Bagouet, Montpellier le saut de l'ange, Carolyn Carlson, a woman of many faces, grand ecart, Mama africa, C'est pas facile, Lyon, le pas de deux d'une ville, Le Défilé, Un rêve de cirque.

He has also produced theatre films: Song, Vu d'ici (Carolyn Carlson), Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux, 10 anges, Necesito and So schnell, (Dominique Bagouet), Im bade wannen, Flut and Wandelung (Susanne Linke), Le Cabaret Latin (Karine Saporta), La danse du temps (Régine Chopinot), Nuit Blanche (Abou Lagraa), Le Témoin (Claude Brumachon), Corps est graphique (Käfig), Seule et WMD (Françoise et Dominique Dupuy), La Veillée des abysses (James Thiérrée), Agwa (Mourad Merzouki), Fuenteovejuna (Antonio Gades), Blue Lady revistied (Carolyn Carlson).

Source: Maison de la Danse de Lyon

Artistic direction: Annick Charlot

Creation: 2000

Directed by Annick Charlot, choreographer and dancer, the Compagnie Acte was born in Lyon of the desire to share dance, to create a community, to create continuity between art and the world. Its first creations tell of resistance, resilience, the charnel confines of the human being. “Art as a way of creating a community”: this commitment to the world inflects the creative process of choreographer Annick Charlot, who little by little has distanced herself from spaces dedicated to dance to invest public spaces in the city, going so far as to include the public in the creative process, for example: "Lieu d'être", Manifeste Chorégraphique Pour l’Utopie d’Habiter" (creation and coproduction for the Biennale de la Danse in Lyon 2010). Her latest creation, "Journal d'un seul jour", a choreographic drama in the city lasting 24 hours, presented in May 2016 by the Maison de la Danse in Lyon, unites a number of the city’s locations and players (station, hotel, public square, hyper-market, public institutions and private companies…).

Source : Company Acte 's website

More information

compagnie-acte.fr