Choreography Héla Fattoumi/Eric Lamoureux

Performers Moustapha Ziane & Hafiz Dhaou Sound Eric Lamoureux Lighting Xavier Lazarini Set design Frédéric Casanova Production Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen/Basse-Normandie

This male duo, The Dance of Pièze (La Danse de Pièze), explores the relationship between two men who are alternately peers and rivals. In this dance are instances of barely touching, pressure, impact, improbable points of support, movement in which the energy and the solid mass of the bodies become an invitation to share the sensation of this experience. At once desired, galvanised, entwined and rejected – the bodies of the two dancers are shaped through these exchanges, alternating between sensuality and confrontation.
Malek Chebel's ideas about homosensuality are reflected in this work. The expression has anthropological roots, meaning, « generally, a Middle Eastern point of view, more specifically Arab, in which in the absence of partners of the opposite sex, one carries over to one's peers the excess of sensuality which he cannot otherwise express ».
This work is clearly related to Héla Fattoumi and Eric Lamoureux's other work Pièze (Unité de Pression) (Measurement of pressure), in which an interactive structure associated body contact with an audio signal. The Dance of Pièze (La Danse de Pièze) retains the memory of the dance and the emotional and physical states emanating from and generated by the interactive structure, while also revisiting the original raw material of the choreography. Projecting the expressiveness of the bodies as a single vector of receptivity, The Dance of Pièze allows the spectator to feel a direct contact with this relationship of duality -- and with the dance flowing from it.

Héla Fattoumi and Éric Lamoureux founded the Compagnie FATTOUMI/ LAMOUREUX in 1988. Their first work Husaïs was awarded the prize for best first piece at the Bagnolet International Choreographic Competition in 1990, then their trio Après-midi  received the “New Talents” prize from the SACD in 1991. These two  pieces placed them as leaders of the new generation of contemporary  choreographers and brought them international renown.

A space for research whose source is the intermingling of their individual features.    From piece to piece, they mine the intrinsic intelligence of the body,  its power to reveal meaning, which can also be thought as a part of  movement.    Several other important pieces were created in the same vein as Husaïs: Si loin que l’on aille (at the Théâtre de la Bastille and the Théâtre de la Ville, 1992); Fiesta (commissioned by the Avignon Festival, 1992); Asile Poétique (at the Théâtre de la Ville, 2000) based on texts by the poet Antonio Ramos Rosa; Wasla, ce qui relie… (at the Lyon Dance Biennial, 1998); Vita Nova (at the Grande Halle de la Villette, 2000) with the 11th graduating class of the National Center for Circus Arts.    These pieces show choreographic work linked to the ideas of mastery/  nonmastery, strength/ fragility, minimalism/ performance, a dance whose  expressive weight is charged by a “graphic energy.”

They were appointed directors of the CCN of Caen/  Basse-Normandie in 2004, where they continued their work with pieces  focusing on societal issues.    These works were La Madâ’a (at the Arsenal in Metz, 2004) with the Joubran brothers, Palestinian virtuosi on the oud; Pièze (a “pressure measurement”) and La danse de Pièze  (at the Festival Dialogue de corps, Ouagadougou, 2006 and the Théâtre  de la Bastille), about the idea of “homosensuality” in the Arab-Muslim  world; Just to dance… (the Espace des Arts in Chalon-sur-Saône, 2010), a piece about the idea of “creolization” developed by Édouard Glissant; MANTA,  a solo created at the Montpellier Festival in 2009 and performed on  tour (Tokyo, Séoul, Berlin, Tunis, Brussels, Stockholm, Oslo), based on  the problem inherent in wearing the niqab; Lost in burqa, (at  the Festival danse d’ailleurs, 2011) a performance for 8 dancers, based  on the “clothing-sculptures” by the Moroccan plastician Majida Khattari;  Masculines (at the Arsenal de Metz, 2013) and on the representations of the feminine on both sides of the Mediterranean.

They are reactivating a choreographic research recharging itself with the expressive and poetic potential of dance. Une douce imprudence co-signed with Thierry Thieû Niang (at the  Festival Ardanthé 2013, and the Théâtre National de Chaillot, 2014) on  the idea of “Care”; Waves, a commission for the Swedish opera  company NorrlandsOperan and its symphony orchestra, under the auspices  of Umeå 2014, European cultural capital, for which they are associated  with the Swedish singer and composer Peter von Poehl.

They also chose to step outside theatres to work in situ in other reactive contexts.    In February 2009, they created the performance Stèles as part of a special “Nocturne”, a commission from the Louvre Museum.    In 2008 they created Promenade at the Grand Palais, imagining a dialogue with the monumental sculptures of Richard Serra.    In January 2012 they created Circle, inviting the audience into  the center of a circular structure where dance goes wild with the  massed collective energy of 26 professional and amateur dancers.    In 2013, as part of the Normandy Impressionist Festival they stepped  inside the exhibition “Summer at the water’s edge” at the Beaux-Arts  Museum of Caen for a choreographic Flânerie (wandering).

Creation of the Festival Danse d’Ailleurs (Dance from Elsewhere) (2005)    Beginning in 2005, they founded the Festival Danse d’Ailleurs whose  vocation is to put back into perspective the idea of universalism while  questioning referent frameworks for modernity in art, relating to  cultural horizons.    The first four editions focused on artists from the vast, diverse  African continent and brought international recognition to the event,  and the following editions opened as far as Asia, linking with the Hot  Summer Festival in Kyoto, Japan.

Héla Fattoumi and Éric Lamoureux are fully committed to the promotion and the defense of choreographic art.    From 2001 to 2004, Héla Fattoumi was the dance vice president of the  SACD (Société des Auteurs Compositeurs Dramatiques). She was also in  charge of programming the section called ”Vif du sujet” at the Avignon  Festival.    From 2006 – 2008, she was the President of the ACCN (Association of the  National Choreographic Centers). From 2010 – 2013 Éric Lamoureux took  over the Presidency; he is now the vice president.    From 2013 to 2015, Héla Fattoumi has been the president delegated to long-term planning at the SYNDEAC.

In March 2015 Héla Fattoumi and Éric Lamoureux were named  Directors of the Centre chorégraphique national de Franche-Comté in  Belfort, for which they are developing their VIADANSE project.

Graduate from the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, Benjamin Silvestre works as filmmaker. His work explores the body, and his gesture as language, and way of narration.

He made experimental and narrative films and videos, shorts documentaries on Choregraphers and dance films.

Since 2003, he makes many videos recordings of contemporary dance performances.

He also made severals projects of videos installations for Museum (Forteresse Royale de Chinon, Musée de la résistance et de la déportation, Limoges)

He is actually ending the writing of a feature film and a documentary.

En savoir plus : www.benjaminsilvestre.com