... If reality did not exist, then literature, dance, theatre and so on would not exist, isn’t that so? It’s above all for that, for its usefulness, that we like reality. It’s from reality that we start but that stops there. A sort of root on the surface allowing us to descend into our caves, tunnels, basements, maze-like at times, blind alleys at others, dead ends. Dead end indeed, maybe there, what you are going to see. Mathilde asked herself “what is the inner state of a being?” What do we do with this kind of question? The inner state of a being cannot be communicated. At the outset she asked herself “is it the confinement that fascinates me so much?” We changed subject, fearing the journalists’ questions, wishing to cut it short. We changed subject a number of times, we skipped from subject to subject, before finally choosing “stop barking you filthy dogs”. Because the inner state of beings is just that. The confined state of beings is that: Things inside you and around you that bark. Things that bark through you. That scream or wail or that are there. We have taken as subject the things that are there. In our head, what we hear, that are there. Those things that sometimes we ourselves bark out. All those sentences. That are there. In silence, in our head, that pass, even the deaf must hear them. We don’t know. Precisely, we don’t know what is confined inside beings. All those sentences, even when you watch a show, or at night. Like a cat, it doesn’t linger, it leaps very quickly from one thing to another, it always returns obsessively to more or less the same spots. It marks pauses. Or not, sometimes it doesn’t come back. Like a cat, the body each time that stands still and the gaze too, to quickly move to a higher branch. A lower branch, or a cupboard. Without ever hurting itself, that’s it…

Source: Christine Angot. June 1997

Mathilde Monnier occupies a place of reference in the landscape of  French and international contemporary dance. From piece to piece, she  thwarts expectations by presenting work in constant renewal.

Her  appointment as head of the Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon  Choreographic Center in 1994 marked the beginning of a series of  collaborations with personalities from various artistic fields (Jean-Luc  Nancy, Katerine, Christine Angot, La Ribot, Heiner Goebbels.. .).

She  created more than 50 choreographic pieces presented on major  international stages like the Avignon Festival, the Théâtre de la Ville  in Paris, passing through New York, Vienna, Berlin, London and receiving  several prizes for her work (Ministry of Culture prize, SACD Grand  Prize).

After directing the CND National Dance Center in Paris,  Mathilde Monnier resumed her creative work in 2019 with several pieces  like Please Please Please (2019) which she created in collaboration with  La Ribot & Tiago Rodiguez, Records (2021) and her latest, Black  Lights (2023).

Since 2020, Mathilde Monnier and her company have residing at the Halle Tropisme in Montpellier.

Source and more information: https://www.mathildemonnier.com/en/

Back in 1987, after having completed her studies at the Ecole nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière, Valérie Urréa began asserting her passion for visual and performing arts. Documentaries, live recordings, fictions, from 'Bruit Blanc' to 'L’Homme qui Danse', all of Valerie Urréa’s films, which are principally coproduced by ARTE, explore highly-sensitive themes such as autism, masculinity and issues concerning race, through artistic visions. Her multiple award-winning films are regularly presented in international festivals. She was guest-artist twice for the Commission Image Mouvement de la Délégation des Arts Plastiques (Image/Movement Commission of the French Visual Arts Delegation). At the same time, she was a teacher for several years at the École Supérieure des Arts Visuels (ESAV - Higher Institute for Visual Arts) in Marrakech, specializing in the relationships between images and performing arts. 

Source : Valérie Urréa