NOBOLERO
NOBOLERO : An expoloration of breath
NOBOLERO : Un travail autour du souffle
March 2019
Interview by Sylvia Zade Routier @ Por La Danza Magazine
Sylvia Zade Routier : SZR
Chantal Yzermans : CyZ
SZR:
Why this title: NOBOLERO?
CyZ:
In fact, it's more an appropriation of the iconic choreography by Maurice Béjart, because what one sees on stage is NOT Béjart's Bolero, but in the historical sense, a choreography which has been shifted. I dance -the soloist part of this 1960 ballet, also called ‘La Mélodie’- , four times in a row, ‘visually’ in a fragmented way, with each time a different costume and a different lighting, which also changes, from very light to darker and much darker. This ever-changing fragmentation brings an element of surprise, as well as a magical turn to this event.
SZR :
The first appearance is indeed already magical, as what we see in the dark, is a single luminescent dress dancing by itself...
CyZ:
The costume designer, Jean-Paul Lespagnard, was inspired by the first dress created by Alexandre Benois for the Bolero, in 1930. A traditional dress, which Lespagnard copied, but choosing a fluorescent fabric, so to give its ghostly appearance.
SZR :
You bring on stage a very unusual character, Dr. Joëlle Adrien, a neurologist from the INSERM. Can you explain her role?
CyZ:
My question is: Do we really have to explain Art? Must we really understand it? I prefer to approach this hypnotical work through our senses. That's where "Hypnos" comes in: "sleep", which is the foundation of Dr. Joëlle Adrien's scientific research: "Who are we when sleeping?", a question I myself asked her, while I was in residence at the Cité des Arts, in Paris. Her answer was breath-taking, because her research goes so far down as to the origins of dreams in the foetus... This experience, an ancestral ritual, is universal and includes us all, thus its powerful legacy.
SYZ:
Isn't the Bolero a ritual, too?
CyZ:
Indeed, it is, through its repetition and initiatic crescendo, as breathing is, which leads us to the Breath of Life.
SYZ:
In your former work, TOTEM ANCESTOR, presented at the "Istanbul Art Fair", you already introduced breathing as an important part of the piece. There too, because of copyright problems, you danced behind the curtain of the Theatre, so we only heard your breathing, which was simultaneously amplified and streamed on a Turkish radio. TOTEM ANCESTOR was originally danced, in 1942, by its own creator, Merce Cunningham. So, once again, you work on from an iconic choreography.
CyZ :
Indeed, because those two pieces are inevitable keystones and for me, adapting such grand works represents, in this particular case, an artistic action, as paying my respects to both these two great artists.
SZR:
So, placing on stage the sound of your own breathing is a personal performance?
CyZ:
It's my personal research, inspired by a particular work, but expanding it further. I place myself between the Theatre work and the Performance, where the expression of a movement goes back to its own nature, in this case, breathing.
SZR:
Can breathing on its own be enough on stage?
CyZ:
As I use it, yes. Breathing means Life. That's the first thing a new-born does. A dancer is totally influenced by the strength of his breathing, that's exactly why I insist so much on it, because it controls the possibilities of the movement. Choreographers such as Anna Halprin, Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, José Limón, Pina Bausch, Trisha Brown, always have integrated breathing as an artistic part in their creations. In NoBolero, I place breating in front, because in Dance, it influences and defines the theatrical movement. Besides, breathing is one's own, it's like our fingerprint. So there is no "copyright" on one's own breathing. And this takes us back to what Dr. Joëlle Adrien says about the "paradoxal sleep", because it's the only place where we each are different. In NoBolero, the progression of senses attains an immaterial aspect, which is breathing. I travel through various historical and sensitive stages to attain, in the end, the pure essence of Dance/Life, i.e. breath.
SZR:
Is there not a similar research to Robert Ryman's, in his painting "white square inside a white square" ?
CyZ:
Yes, because I take everything away... to get to the essential.
SZR:
Therefore, it's a concept?
CyZ:
I prefer to say it's Poetry.
Interview: Sylvia Zade-Routier, March 2019
Concept Chantal Yzermans Original Music Bolero by Maurice Ravel
Duration 60’
Lecture Performance Dr. Joelle Adrien Live Music MADMOIZEL
Costume Design Jean Paul Lespagnard
Light Design Elke Verachtert / Chantal Yzermans
Production Radical Low / Centre Pompidou Metz (FR)
Co-Production Jan Fabre/Troubleyn (BE) Kultuurfaktorij Monty (BE) Takt Dommelhof (BE)
With the support of
the Flemish Community /Internationale Werken
Residencies
Kunstencentrum Vooruit (BE) Teatros del Canal (ES)
Cité Internationale des Arts Paris (FR)
Performance History
Monty Kunstencentrum, Antwerp (BE) Centre Pompidou Metz, Metz (FR)
Photography Laetitia Bica