Végétal [les pierres et le tipi de bois]

““Végétal” is the desire to find the chlorophyll that runs in my veins. A raw material.  Tree, vegetable world, growth. Reunions with the tree that I am. It was my discovery of Andy Goldsworthy’s work, and the instant feeling that our research takes the same energies as a starting point” (Régine Chopinot, quoted in the Sigma 31 programme, Bordeaux, where the piece was performed in November 1995).

Starting from personal research into the birth of gestures which led her to confront the elements, Régine Chopinot discovered the work of the English artist Andy Goldsworthy through the land art movement, in which artists create temporary works, generally in the open air and sculpted from natural materials. The choreographer was struck by the resonances with her own research ideas. Goldsworthy is internationally recognised and has had his works exhibited all over the world; “Végétal” is the first time he worked on a performance and would repeat this experience with “La Danse du temps” (“Dance of time”) in 1999, again with the Ballet Atlantique-Régine Chopinot (BARC). As part of the process of creation, the company went to the Scottish countryside to build nests and huts. A project filmed in the forest, the results of which are now part of the BARC archive catalogue, deposited in the CND (National Dance Centre) library, it was begun in 1996 but never saw the light of day.

In a large circle on the ground, the dancers of “Végétal”, using simple gestures on the ground or vertically, handle natural elements: stones, leaves, pieces of wood, to build shapes, to carve clay and to celebrate nature.

This piece is made up of five parts: Ground, Seed, Root, Branch and Leaf.

For the first tableau, Ground, three dancers, whose bodies ascend and descend, are arranged around a heap of red clay. Then, for Seed, six dancers build a column of stones. For the third tableau, Root, on the wall located at the back of the stage, a giant work, based on a projection of ferns by Goldsworthy, symbolises the roots, which are also brought to life by a dance on the ground which brings to mind the movement of snakes. The fourth tableau, Branch, returns to the construction of a nest using tree branches, using the circular movements of the dancers in the dust of the red clay. Lastly, for the final tableau, Leaf, dried leaves are placed in the centre of the stage, which the performers dance around before coming together again in a small circle.

In this piece, Chopinot works with the theme of the elements, as would also be the case in “Paroles du feu” (1997). Her research also led her to a sort of slowness – even if the dancers do not slow down their movements – with a purified dance, humble, without the artifice of the show, and, for the first time in a long while, without costumes of Jean Paul Gaultier!

During the whole piece, Knud Viktor’s sounds of nature are added to the gestures of the dancers who handle the natural elements (noises of leaves, tree branches). “Végétal” was in fact the result of the collaboration between BARC and the poet and sound painter Knud Viktor. This artist, based in Lubéron and who works in the field of environmental sound art, is passionate about the sounds of plant and animal life and also works for the radio.

This piece also marks the beginning of a long-term working relationship with the lighting technician Maryse Gautier, who since then has often collaborated with Chopinot on the lighting for BARC’s pieces. Maryse Gautier was spotted by Chopinot in 1994 and their collaboration still continues in 2013, on the Cornucopiae dance company’s piece “Very Wetr!”.

In 1995, Chopinot had been based in La Rochelle for almost ten years, she had the respect of her peers and the admiration of her audiences, so she could allow herself  to launch another large production following “ANA” and “Saint-George” (15 dancers for  “Végétal”, 13 for “Saint-George”, 19 for “ANA”).

Press quotes

Recognised today as one of the choreographer’s major works, “Végétal” was a relative failure with audiences. Criticisms were often not very kind in France, even though the piece was a real success in Japan!

“Végétal goes beyond dance. It is about travelling in the movement as you would in space, until you feel its essential fibre, almost beyond a minimal threshold of perception […] the lengthy and deep interrogation of a gesture, until it releases the organic and imaginary texture which it conceals.”

Laurence Louppe, in Art press, April 1996

“If we are convinced by the relevance of her visual goal, we are less so by the choreography and the dance, which seem to be trying to find their position. In “Végétal”, because it openly confronts a sound landscape and a plastic universe, the dance seeks its nature. It’s a pity, although you do end up getting plenty of fresh air during this show.”

Marie-Christine Vernay in Libération, 15 November, 1995

Updating: February 2012