Cette pièce créée en 1953 se révèle particulièrement représentative de la pensée artistique d'Alwin Nikolais  (1910-1993). Sur un socle, des danseurs sont emprisonnés dans un tube  de tissu extensible. Chacun de leur mouvement déforme la matière  produisant des apparitions sculpturales changeantes. Des projections de  lumière accentuent les métamorphoses de ces créatures étranges au risque  de faire oublier parfois l'humanité de l'interprète glissé à  l'intérieur du tissu.

Reconfigurer l'anatomie grâce à des costumes  extravagants, des accessoires bizarres ou des projections d'images est  l'un des motifs de l'œuvre de Nikolais. Ce parti-pris souligne la vision  qu'a Nikolais de l'homme comme "partie d'un grand tout" comme il aimait  à le dire. Le danseur, manipulant et manipulé, présent et absent,  devient l'un des paramètres de son "Total Dance Theatre".  Impossible de savoir si ce sont d'ailleurs des hommes ou des femmes qui  participent aux pièces de Nikolais tant ils se dissolvent dans le  paysage. Le fait que Nikolais fut un temps marionnettiste explique  peut-être aussi cet étrange penchant. Quant à la danse, simple et  efficace, elle a pour objectif de rendre vivant les costumes, de  chambouler les projections d'images et faire advenir un rêve plastique  et coloré.

Source : Rosita Boisseau, En scènes, INA

Alwin Nikolaïs was born in 1910 in Southington, Connecticut. He studied piano at an early age and began his performing career as an organist accompanying silent films. As a young artist he gained skills in scenic design, acting, puppetry and music composition. It was after attending a performance by the illustrious German dancer Mary Wigman that he was inspired to study dance. He received his early dance training at Bennington College from the great figures of the modern dance world: Hanya Holm, Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Louis Horst, and others. In 1940, in collaboration with Truda Kaschmann, his first modern dance teacher Mr. Nikolais received a commission to create « Eight Column Line », his first ballet.  In 1948, Mr. Nikolais was appointed director of the Henry Street Playhouse, where he formed the Playhouse Dance Company, later renamed and known as the Nikolais Dance Theatre. It was at Henry Street that Mr. Nikolais began to develop his own world of abstract dance theatre, portraying man as part of a total environment. His unique choreographic works placed him in a realm previously untouched by other choreographers. Mr. Nikolais redefined dance, as “the art of motion which, left on its own merits, becomes the message as well as the medium.“

While developing his choreography, Mr. Nikolais' lifelong interest in music led him to create his own scores. Choreographer, composer, scenic and costume designer, has blended his many talents into a single aesthetic force. In a career that has spanned five decades, he has left his imprint on every theatrical medium, from Broadway to television. Whenever there is something new, his hand is evident. His lighting wonders, his sound scores, his choreography, and his costumes have influenced the contemporary stage and a generation of choreographers. Mr. Nikolais is the creator of the internationally acclaimed Nikolais Dance Theater and the genius responsible for dozens of visual masterpieces. As a uniquely original exponent of American contemporary dance he toured throughout Europe and subsequent tours to South America and the Far East. Mr. Nikolais is renowned as a master teacher, and his pedagogy is taught in schools and universities throughout the world. He passed away May 8, 1993 and is buried in Pere La Chaisse cemetery in Paris.

Source: Nikolais/Louis Foundation for dance Inc.

More information: nikolaislouis.org

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

En 1948, Alwin Nikolais fonde une école de danse au Henry Street Playhouse à New York. Peu de temps après, Murray Louis le rejoint, et mène l'affaire à ses côtés pendant 20 ans. Nik et Murray collaborent jusqu'à la mort de Nikolais en 1993. 

Après 20 ans de créativité et de développement remarquables au Playhouse, l'école déménage dans le centre de Manhattan et devient la Fondation Nikolais/Louis. La Fondation comprend à l'époque le Nikolais Dance Theatre, la Murray Louis Dance Company, l'école et Chimerafilm (un complément audiovisuel). À la mort de Nikolais en 1993, la Fondation poursuit son projet d'apprentissage et d'enseignement sous la forme de séries d'ateliers intensifs à travers les États-Unis. 

Pendant plus de cinquante ans, la fondation a donné l'exemple de la plus haute intégrité pédagogique et a influencé d'innombrables interprètes. Alwin Nikolais et Murray Louis incarnent des chefs de file de la danse moderne grâce à leur intégrité en tant que force créatrice de la danse moderne. C'est la mission de la fondation de perpétuer cette tradition pour la prochaine génération d'innovateurs en danse. 

La Fondation Nikolais/Louis pour la danse honore et perpétue les innovations en matière de production théâtrale et de technique de danse introduites par Nikolais et Louis, dont beaucoup sont maintenant des standards dans le domaine. Actuellement, la Fondation Nikolais/Louis pour la danse, en collaboration avec la Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, propose un programme passionnant, soulignant la maîtrise de la chorégraphie de Murray Louis et d'Alwin Nikolais avec une troupe de dix danseurs. 

Source : Nikolais/Louis Foundation

En savoir plus : www.nikolaislouis.org