la légèreté des tempêtes - Compagnie Christian et François Ben Aïm

© «Book of Taboo-Aviator» ©Image by Maleonn / www.maleonn.com
la légèreté des tempêtes
Creation on 7 November 2014 at the Scène nationale de Mâcon
au 09.05.14
la légèreté des tempêtes
Creation on 7 November 2014 at the Scène nationale de Mâcon
4 performers, 3 cellists, 1 singer
Choregraphy
Christian and François Ben Aïm
Performance
Dancers
Aurélie Berland
Mélanie Cholet
Aimée Lagrange
Christian Ben Aïm
Musicians
Bruno Ferrier
Mathilde Sternat
Christophe Morin (to confirm)
In progress
Music
Jean-Baptiste Sabiani
Lights
Laurent Patissier
Costumes
Dulcie Best
Production: CFB 451
Coproductions: Le Théâtre, Scène nationale de Mâcon I Théâtre des Bergeries, Noisy-le-Sec I Théâtre de Rungis I
Chorège, Relais Culturel Régional du Pays de Falaise I Accueil studio CCN de La Rochelle - Kader Attou I Ville
de Segré
Choreographic residencies: La Briqueterie - CDC du Val de Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine I Les Brigittines, Centre
d’Art Contemporain du Mouvement de la ville de Bruxelles
With the support of Fonds SACD Musique de Scène and SPEDIDAM.
Pre-purchases: L’Equinoxe, Scène nationale de Châteauroux I Le Trident, Scène nationale de Cherbourg-Octeville
I Théâtre de Cavaillon, Scène nationale I Théâtre Jean Lurçat, Scène nationale d’Aubusson I L’Espace 1789, SaintOuen I Théâtre de l’Hôtel de Ville, Saint-Bathelémy d’Anjou I Festival Danse Emoi, Centres culturels municipaux
de Limoges (87) I Théâtre à Châtillon I Le Carré Sévigné, Centre culturel de Cesson-Sévigné
Waiting for confirmation: Théâtre de Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, Scène nationale I Le Gymnase - CDC de Roubaix
- Nord-Pas-de-Calais I L’Espace Jacques Prévert, Aulnay-sous-Bois I Théâtre Louis Aragon, Scène conventionnée
de Tremblay-en-France I Festival Tanec Praha, Prague (République Tchèque), FIAC - festival international des arts
de la scène, Salvador (Brésil)
choregraphic residencies
From 15 to 17 and from 24 to 28 February 2014
Théâtre de Rungis (94)
28 February 2014
Répétition publique au Théâtre de Rungis (94)
From 22 to 25 April 2014
La Briqueterie, CDC du Val-de-Marne (94)
From 16 to 21 May 2014
Centre culturel, Segré (49)
From 17 to 20 June 2014
La Briqueterie, CDC du Val-de-Marne (94)
From 25 to 30 June 2014
Lieu à confirmer
From 11 to 22 August 2014
Théâtre de Châtillon (92)
From 25 to 29 August 2014
Théâtre des Bergeries, Noisy-le-Sec (93)
From 22 to 26 September 2014
Les Brigittines, Bruxelles
From 6 to 10 October 2014
CCN de La Rochelle - Kader Attou (Accueil studio)
From 13 to 17 October 2014
Chorège, Relais cuturel du Pays de Falaise (14)
From 25 October to 6 November 2014
Scène nationale de Mâcon (71)
provisional performance schedule
6 November 2014
Open rehearsal - Scène nationale de Mâcon (71)
7 November 2014
Creation at the Théâtre - Scène nationale de Mâcon (71)
From 10 to 16 November 2014
Festival International Cena Cumplicidades, Recife (Brésil)
From 16 to 23 November 2014
Tournée au Brésil
15 January 2015
Le Carré-Sévigné, Centre culturel de Cesson-Sévigné (35)
23 January 2015
Théâtre des Bergeries, Noisy-le-Sec (93)
30 January 2015
Théâtre à Châtillon (92)
5 February 2015
Théâtre de Rungis (94)
9 February 2015
L’Equinoxe, Scène nationale de Châteauroux (36)
11 February 2015
Théâtre Jean Lurçat, Scène nationale d’Aubusson (23)
13 February 2015
Centre culturels - Scène conventionée pour la danse - Ville de Limoges (87)
10 March 2015
Théâtre de L’Hôtel de Ville - Saint-Barthelémy-d’Anjou (49)
13 March 2015
Centre culturel, Segré (49)
Autumn 2015
Le Trident, Scène nationale de Cherbourg-Octeville (50)
Other upcoming performances.
© Sergio Larrain / Magnum Photo
Artistic intentions
Lightness of storms sets in the continuity of our choreographic research.
Our favorite topics are present in this new form: a reflexion about the worlds around us,
the relation to others and ambivalence of personalities will be the main topics.
Lightness of storms, mixing poetry of movement with the physicality of our dance permits
us to pursue the artistic approach we developed over the last ten years, combining ideas
which are dear to us.
In the same way, our fraternal bond, each time creating new forms, will find in Lightness
of storms a new opportunity to express itself, always surprising us.
In this piece Desire is the prism through which we explore the human soul and the
energies incarnating it. To translate this force of life and reflect all the passions hidden
from view, we have chosen an abstract and organic dance, very close to the music that will
be live on stage.
Served by a very precise choreography, Lightness of storms springs from our dephts,
shakes our hearts and heckles our unconscious.
DESIr, cause of our intimate storms
© Josef Koudelka / Magnum Photo
Desire is the central theme of this creation. Thought as the driving
force for the performers on stage, it will be there to arise in them
the breath of life, to give each movement a creative or destructive
emergency, but always spontaneous.
More than the sources of Desire, Lightness of storms is an opportunity to analyze the states in which the irrational appetite plunges
the beings around us.
Our inspiration is based on stories or on History (of Dance or Theatre). We will particularly focus on biographies,
autobiographies, stories and writings of these “insane” people, «beings of light» who live «elsewhere» at the border of insanity and genius.
Vaslav Nijinsky, Antonin Artaud, Camille Claudel, Pablo Picasso, these artists who had an exacerbated sensuality,
living in great eroticism, in the might of overflowing life, are our initiators of our desires.
These figures “at the edge” will allow us to include in our choreography a relationship to reality along with a
notion of strangeness throughout all the creation.
We conceive these characters and the stories that surround them, as our guides to escape the individual experience and to contact a universal dimension, in a shared emotion.
A energetic dance, in the emergency to reveal itself
Lightness of storms is the calm before the storm, alternating restraint and release movements.
If Desire is an extreme tension towards a goal we want to reach, we wish to work on perpetual contrasts. In this
heightened trance with sometimes great energy, we will play with its prior hypnosis, as with the fatal exhaustion
that follows.
We want to reveal a human being through a smooth and chaotic writing, as a succession of sensations and
resonances composed of breaks, emergencies and grace:
gentleness and violence
brutality and poetry
balance and falling
apnea and breathing
sadness and joy
resistance and release
suspending and swirling
chaos and calm
oppression and freedom
helplessness and force
Through the prism of these contrasts, it is the world around us we have chosen to explore, the way it crosses
our bodies, permeates our thoughts, provokes our emotions.
Chorality, individual and organicity
This creation explores the relationship between the group and the individual. The starting point being our intimate
experiences, we question the confrontation of personal desires to people surrounding us.
In a relationship of exchange with the performers, we wish to explore the singularity of their bodies with a strong
constraint of organicity, thus allowing the dancer to be browsed by different energies and emotions.
Set in motion such as rubberbands, playing with resistance, we wish that the bodies trace in space a very wide
spectrum, combining high voltage and surprising lightness.
One of the challenges will be to bring up the organic writing in a chorality, while maintaining the uniqueness of
individualities, working on successive emotions.
Bodies in a hurry to speak and free themselves.
Bodies that release, abandon with joy and dersision.
Desiring bodies, caught in the duality between conscious mind and possession.
A musical commission
For this new project, we commissioned the composer Jean-Baptiste Sabiani to create an original score that will
be performed on stage by a contemporary group of three cellists and a singer.
Jean-Baptiste Sabiani will work within the clear constraints of a group consisting solely of cellos. Following
the creative methods of Oulipo [a collective of writers and mathematicians who use experimental writing techniques, he will use this constraint to develop his creativity and get the best out of the musical capabilities of this
instrument. Taking advantage of the instrument’s key qualities – its expressiveness and astonishing power – he
will cover the full spectrum of possibilities, from lyricism to rock ‘n’ roll.
To complete the group, we immediately chose the singer Bruno Ferrier. Specialising in a range of singing styles,
from diphonic vocals to opera, blues, rock ‘n’ roll and Asian songs, this exceptional artist will be able to join the
cellists in their most spirited pieces.
Jean-Baptiste Sabiani’s composition will express desire in all its forms, along with the paradoxical states that it
arouses – tenderness or violence, latency and torture – as well as its transcendence and necessity.
For the first time, we have asked Jean-Baptiste Sabiani to create a musical score before rehearsals begin on stage.
This way of working is extremely challenging, but it also enables him to give free rein to his imagination and to
capture the theme fully. The first part of the score will be created in December 2013.
In La Légèreté des tempêtes, music is closely connected with dance. Like the solo in Valse en trois temps, we
hope that it possesses and invades your body, while forging an organic link beween itself and the performers.
christian and françois Ben Aïm
A company
The Ben Aïm brothers are all of this, and more: a fifteen-year partnership that has
produced some twenty creations, strengthened by artistic collaborations from all
backgrounds. Their story reads like a ploughed furrow, dug with the expertise of
field workers liaising with performance spaces and communities. In the past three
years, they have created some 350 shows that have helped them to establish an
authentic company identity.
© DR
Two choreographer-dancers
After studying dance, physical theatre and circus skills, they each set out to
develop their performing careers independently in Canada and France. Once
reunited, they laid the foundations for their company, which functions around
the fraternal dynamic created by François and Christian: a meeting of minds and
instincts, they continually bounce ideas off each other to produce artistic projects
in constant evolution.
© DR
Standout pieces
In 1996, the brothers created their cornerstone piece: A l’abri du regard des
hommes, avant d’aller mourir ailleurs, a hybrid performance in which dancers and
actors share and feed off each other’s raw physical energy. La Frontera and Ne
vous fiez pas au titre, il peut encore changer followed in the same vein, showcasing a style of dance that blends subtle humour with elements of surprise. Other
signature pieces include the diptych inspired by the work of Bernard-Marie Koltès,
Carcasses, un œil pour deux and En plein cœur, whose original scenography
and music resonate with the playwright’s texts. Among their latest productions,
L’Ogresse des archives et son chien plays fully on the intersection of different
disciplines, while Valse en trois temps flirts with minimalism. The brothers have
also created in situ works on location, such as the monumental Mangrove Groove
in China, and the ‘all-terrain’ piece Karma performed throughout the Pas-deCalais region.
Partner venues
This path has been possible thanks to the loyal support of numerous performance spaces, including municipal theatres (the Théâtre de Vanves, Théâtre Louis
Aragon de Tremblay-en-France, and the Théâtre de la Madeleine de Troyes, with
whom they partnered for six years), national theatres (Mâcon, Aubusson), Centres
Chorégraphiques Nationaux (Roubaix, Orléans, Créteil), and L’Espace 1789 in
Saint-Ouen.
The company’s development is characterised by open-mindedness, exemplified by
intimate solos that open up towards large-scale pieces, a physical style of writing that
engages with cross-disciplinary art forms, and connections that lead to partnerships
both within their local communities and abroad. It is also characterised by passion,
which is always reignited when they push artistic and geographic boundaries.
Background
1996
After returning from Quebec, Christian and François Ben Aïm began to research and develop original
choreographies that combine dance and theatre. They created their first pieces during their time with the
Eclats d’Art company.
1997
A l’abri du regard des hommes, avant d’aller mourir ailleurs (first creation) - 5 performers / Festival
Avignon Off 1998
1998
L’Homme Rapaillé - 5 performers
1999
Un homme en marche - 5 performers / Festival Avignon Off 2001
2000
Creation dof the company CFB 451
2001
La Frontera - 5 performers
Ô mon frère ! - 3 performers / Festival Avignon Off 2011
2003
Ne vous fiez pas au titre, il peut encore changer – 3 performers
2004
Carcasses, un œil pour deux - 2 performers
2004-2006 Residency at Micadanses / Paris
2006
En plein cœur - 9 performers
Les quatres saisons de l’amour - 35 perfomers / Gala dinner for Amway – China
2006-2009 Residency of 3 years at the Théâtre de La Madeleine scène conventionée de Troyes
2007
You’re a bird, now ! - Solo
2007-2008 Residency Territoire(s) de la danse au Théâtre Louis Aragon – Tremblay-en-France
2008
Louves - Solo
Amor Fati Fati Amor - 6 performers
2009-2012
Artistes associés au théâtre de La Madeleine - Scène conventionnée de Troyes, avec l’aide de la Région
Champagne-Ardenne
2010
Valse en trois temps - 4 performers / Festival Avignon Off 2011
Résistance au droit - 4 performers
2011-2012
Residency at l’Espace 1789 de Saint-Ouen
2011
L’Ogresse des archives et son chien - 9 performers (dancers, musicians and artists circus)
Mangrove groove, China - 50 performers / Publicis Event - Shenzhen, Chine.
2012
L’orée des visages (short form) - 4 performers / Collaboration with the company Pseudonymo
2013
Karma - 3 performers / Commissioned by the CCN de Roubaix - Carolyn Carlson
La forêt ébouriffée - 2 performers / Création jfor young audience (from 7 years)
L’orée des visages (long form) - 4 performers/ Collaboration with the company Pseudonymo
These pieces have been performed in successive seasons and remain in the company’s repertoire.
biographies
performancE: Aurélie Berland - Dancer
Aurélie Berland studied contemporary dance at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP), graduating in 2006. Since then she has worked mainly with Daniel Dobbels in several group and solo
pieces, and with Christian and François Ben Aïm in Amor Fati Fati Amor (2008), Résistance au
droit (2010), and Valse en trois temps (2010). She has been studying the Laban system of dance
movement notation at the CNSMDP since 2011. In 2013 she danced for Christine Gérard in the In
Vivo Danse 2013 festival at the Centre Georges Pompidou.
performance: Mélanie Cholet - Dancer
After training at the Centre Chorégraphique National (CCN) de Montpellier under Mathilde
Monnier (E.X.E.R.C.E.), Mélanie Cholet joined the companies of William Petit/Sandra Martinez,
Anne Le Batard, Yann Lheureux and Serge Ricci. She met Laura Scozzi while working on more
theatrical projects, and also performs for Sophie Daviet, Mark Tompkins, Thomas Lebrun,
Edmond Russo, Shlomi Tuizer, and Rosalind Crisp. Since 2002 she has been a key member of
the Ensemble l’Abrupt company led by Alban Richard. She also works for several dance companies as an educational consultant and mentor.
performance: Aimée Lagrange - Dancer
After receiving her diploma in contemporary dance at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP),
Aimée Lagrange entered the Noord Nederlandse Dans company in the Netherlands, where she
participated in a number of productions from 2007 to 2012, first under the direction of Itzik
Galili, then under that of Stephen Shopshire. During this time she worked with choreographers
Emanuel Gat, Roy Assaf, Andrea Miller, among others.
performance: Mathilde Sternat - Cellist
After winning First Prize in cello and chamber music at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP),
Mathilde Sternat completed her studies by taking an advanced course in chamber music. She
was invited to join the Orchestre Symphonique de Montpellier and the Concerts Pasdeloup in
Paris as a solo cellist, and has played in numerous concerts with the Salzburg chamber orchestra.
An eclectic musician, she has also performed with popular singers and entertainers (including
Bruel, Elodie Frégé, Nolwen Leroy and Voulzy), both in their live shows and on their albums. In
2004 Mathilde Sternat and Anne Gravoin founded the Travelling Quartet, a group of classically
trained musicians who revisit the Beatles’ repertoire of hits. She joined Christian and François
Ben Aïm in 2010 to work on L’Ogresse des archives et son chien (2011).
performance: Bruno Ferrier - Singer
Bruno Ferrier is a percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and singer who initially trained as a drummer and percussionist, studying modern drumming, traditional tabla drumming with the Indian
master Rashmi Bhatt, and African percussion in workshops run by Mama Kouyaté. In 1998 he
entered the Pro Musica college and took a two-year course in classical singing and in polyphonic singing. Following jos training, Bruno Ferrier has worked across a diverse range of disciplines.
From 1991 to 2008 he sang on numerous albums, and toured as a singer with world jazz, rock and
Asian music groups: the Boogie Night Orchestra, Speed Caravan, Pososhok. He also contributed
astonishing improvised vocals to the album Ping Kong by the group DuOud, accompanied by
the oud, a traditional Arabian lute.
He first met Christian and François Ben Aïm in 2010, when he worked both as both a singer and
percussionist on the piece L’ogresse des archives et son chien (2011).
music: Jean-Baptiste Sabiani
Jean-Baptiste Sabiani studied at the Centre d’Information Musicale (CIM) before following a five-year programme at the
American School of Modern Music from 1990 to 1995, specialising in piano. During his career he has written, recorded and
arranged compositions in the fields of jazz, theatre and film. Since 2010, he has composed and/or arranged the musical
scores for all of the productions written by Christian and François Ben Aïm: Résistance au droit (2010), Valse en trois temps
(2010), L’ogresse des archives et son chien (2011), Karma (2013), and La forêt ébouriffée (2013).
lights: Laurent Patissier
After an eclectic early career in special events and television, followed by 15 years in the lighting
industry (working on shows, national and international tours), Laurent Patissier decided to
focus on lighting design for the performing arts. He has worked as a lighting designer on theatre
productions, dance performances, puppet shows, music concerts and exhibitions, and has collaborated with a roll-call of performing artists and companies. He recently designed the lighting
for the contemporary dance pieces Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide by Die Donau (Andréa Sitter) and Il
Progetto Indispensabile by La Ventura company (Ana Ventura); the Hip Hop dance duo Phorm
(David Colas and Santiago); the play La Permanence des Choses, un Essai sur l’Inquiétude by the
Association Perspective Nevski (Sandrine Roche); and the puppet show Avis de Messe Marionettique by the Contre Ciel company (Luc Laporte).
Laurent Patissier first worked with the Christian et François Ben Aïm company in 1998 on
L’homme rapaillé, and since 2004 has designed the lighting for all of their pieces.
costumes: Dulcie Best
A graduate of the Welsh College of Music and Drama, Dulcie Best has been a professional
costume designer and visual artist since 1990. She has designed the costumes for international
events such as the opening ceremony of the Euro 2008 football championship and the 2004
Paralympic Games in Athens. In addition to these major productions, she pursues her creative
passion by working in the performing arts. She first met Christian and François Ben Aïm in 2006
at a choreographic event featuring 35 artists, and has since designed and made the costumes for
a number of their pieces: Louves (2008), L’ogresse des archives et son chien (2011) and La forêt
ébouriffée (2013).
CONTACTS
CFB 451
53 Rue du Général Leclerc
94270 Le Kremlin-Bicêtre - France
+ 33 (0)1 43 60 76 11
www.cfbenaim.com
Ambre Takei
Administrative manager
[email protected]
Marion Gatier
Production and tour manager
[email protected]
Fanny Debray
In charge of communication and public relations
[email protected]
The company is generously supported by la Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Île-de-France – Ministère de la
Culture et de la Communication, au titre de l’aide à la compagnie chorégraphique conventionnée, la Région Île-de-France
au titre de la Permanence Artistique et Culturelle et de l’Emploi-tremplin, le Conseil Général du Val-de-Marne au titre de
l’aide au fonctionnement. The company is currently in residence at the Théâtre de Rungis.
Photo coverage: ©Estelle Brugerolles