At the Rennes Choreographic Center, the rule is the collective.
They are not a single dance choreographer at the head but six grouped under the title of the FAIR-E collective.
Originally they were friends, who found themselves dancing for fun and then challenged each other, more united than ever according to the rules of battles.
Joined by administrative managers also dedicated to the beauty of acting collectively.
In the spotlight in this chosen family, Ousmane Sy, noted for his beautiful
Queen Blood
dedicated to the women of hip-hop, and died suddenly in December 2020. His
One shot
, a posthumous piece, was created at the Rencontres hip-hop de Suresnes in presence of Roselyne Bachelot, then Minister of Culture.
In the collective, a talented couple Johanna Faye and Saïdo Lehlouh also stand out.
She seeks to find common ground through movement.
He is a B. Boy with the agility of a feline.
Together, they created two successful plays
Apaches
then
Earthbound,
taken up last year by the CNSMD in Paris.
This year, Johanna Faye took flight.
Saïdo Lehlouh alone signs his latest creation
Témoin
.
A way of completing the loop started with
Apaches
where he follows the challenges of his commitment: how can dance create a bond?
“Witness
is about bringing together people who don't necessarily know each other but who, through their personalities, their approaches or their backgrounds, all have something in common.
»
And a choreographic principle: “
The people invited are for the most part self-taught, and when they enter the framework of the performance, they know that they have the possibility of transforming it
”.
Witness
therefore allows us to witness the slow mutation of a form composed of twenty people.
Witness Kabuki
Lehlouh has several strings to his bow: he knows how to anchor his movements in the groove until the burst of invention and explosion, a knowledge specific to breakers.
Rarer, it has a sense of sophistication, mystery, soft and fluctuating form.
In
Témoin,
he sets up a mobile atmosphere where the grays powder, where the distances shadow the performers, where beings meet at diffuse borders, which are effectively those of these twenty amateurs - brother, fiancée, ex-girlfriend, professional relationship ...- gathered for the occasion, and who do not rub against each other daily in the studio.
How to do, do well, undo?
Lehlouh pushed the refinement to the point of constituting two different casts of twenty people who alternate according to the geographical locations where the play is performed.
We have rarely seen the station wagon flourish in such unique regions.
Especially since Lehlouh, mastermind of the meetings between these “witnesses” free to improvise, sets a tempo: that of suspension, of slowness, without forbidding stop and go.
What is happening on a stage between strangers?
How does the presence of one disrupt the actions of the other?
What is there to take away from it?
What feelings arise from an observation, reaction or question?
How does the group influence the individual?
Lehlouh opens up many paths to the decision-making process that we have not yet finished exploring.
We will see a lot of him this year.
Apaches
will be performed again in the spring at the Paris Opera for the Cultural Olympiads.
As for
Témoin
, he is just starting his tour which will pass through Paris, Lyon and Annemasse.
From February 24 to 27, 2024 at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris
From April 3 to 5, 2024 at the Maison de la danse, Lyon
April 9 and 10, 2024 at the Château Rouge, Scène Conventionnée in Annemasse