Intended as a homage to Dominique Bagouet, 'Si Je Meurs Laissez le Balcon Ouvert' (If I Die, Leave the Balcony Open), the latest production from the German choreographer Raimund Hoghe, transcends the challenges of a choreographic quotation and reconstruction to focus on a composition about traces. A memory of Paul Verlaine's ‘dear voices of those who have died’, of Bagouet's in his last piece 'Necesito', of Hervé Guibert and even of Federico Garcia Lorca from whom Raimund Hoghe borrows his title; in short, of a certain period – the 1980s – haunted by the devastation of AIDS, 'Si Je Meurs...' brings together loss and memory in the present. “I remember a sensation of tenderness and humanity in his work that I very rarely see today. It's something that has been lost, and I wanted to base my production on this loss. I would also like to show the metamorphosis of memory that provoked by a recollection to which our present time brings a new light.”

Credits

concept et choregraphy Raimund Hoghe

video direction Charles Picq

production 24 images

Raimund Hoghe was born in Wuppertal and began his career by writing portraits of outsiders and celebrities for the German weekly newspaper "Die Zeit". These were later compiled in several books. From 1980 to 1989 he worked as dramaturge for Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal which also became the subject matter for two more books. Since 1989 he has been working on his own theatre pieces for various dancers and actors. 1992 started his collaboration with the artist Luca Giacomo Schulte, who is till now his artistic collaborator. In 1994 he produced his first solo for himself, "Meinwärts", which together with the subsequent "Chambre séparée" (1997) and "Another Dream" (2000) made up a trilogy on the 20th century.

Hoghe frequently works for television on projects such as "La jeunesse est dans la tête" for ARTE (2016), "Lebensträume" (ZDF/3sat 1994) and 1997 "Der Buckel", a hour-long self portrait for WDR. His books have been translated into several languages and he has presented his performances all over Europe, as well as in North and South America, Asia and Australia. He has been awarded several prizes including the "Deutscher Produzentenpreis für Choreografie" in 2001, the French Prix de la Critique in 2006 for "Swan Lake, 4 Acts" (in the category "Best Foreign Piece"). Critics from the magazin ballet-tanz awarded him "Dancer of the Year" for 2008. In 2019, The French Cultural Ministry appointed Raimund Hoghe “Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres”. He received the award in recognition of his "significant contributions to the cultural cooperation between Germany and France". In October 2020, he received the German Dance Award, Germany's most prestigious award for choreographers. Books about his theatre works were published in France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States. Raimund Hoghe lived in Düsseldorf and died unexpectedly in his sleep on 14th May 2021, at the age of 72. 

Source : Raimund Hoghe 's website

More information : raimundhoghe.com

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