D’après J.-C. [transmission 2015]

Extrait de la pièce d’Herman Diephuis remontée par le groupe Poplité Mobilis (Montpellier), coordinateurs artistiques Elsa Decaudin, Fanny Delmas (CCNMLR), Marie Poutas (Crous), dans le cadre de “Danse en amateur et répertoire” (2014)

Choreography by Herman Diephuis
A choreographic extract remodelled by the group Poplité Mobilis (Montpellier), artistic coordinators Elsa Decaudin, Fanny Delmas (CCNMLR), Marie Poutas (Crous), coach Elsa Decaudin, as part of the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme (2014) (a programme created to assist and promote amateur dancing).

The group
Led for the last three years by the contemporary choreographer Elsa Decaudin, the group Poplité Mobilis brings together some ten students from various Montpellier universities, in relation with the Crous (regional student and university centre) and the Centre chorégraphique national based in the city. It acquired its workshop approach through contact with international artists in residency, amongst the most modern in choreographic and performance aesthetics (Antonia Baehr, Miguel Gutierrez, Antonija Livingstone, Laurent Pichaud). Improvisation work and the patient discussions it generates are at the heart of this approach. And right up to the project to participate in the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” national meeting, the forms shown have been a direct result of this.

The project
D’après J.-C. was originally created for two interpreters. The move to a group of ten has inspired role exchanges, de-multiplications, combinations and variations (particularly concerning gender issues). The extract shown was devised as a reduction making it possible to visit all the materials in the piece, but also as a new type of performance involving as much the group’s regular choreographer as the choreographer who composed the piece. This new approach benefited from direct observations from the collections of the Musée Fabre (Montpellier), thereby renewing the interpretive challenges of reading works, personification, slipping from an individual into a character, work on presence and attentive listening within the group. 

The choreographer
Initially a well-known interpreter with leading names of the Nouvelle Danse Française (New French Dance) of the 1980s, Herman Diephuis’ questions took on greater proportions when he joined Mathilde Monnier at the CCN de Montpellier in 1994. He began to work for himself as a choreographer in the early 2000s, showing interest in the new approaches focused on the deconstruction of choreographic spectacular performance or representation. However, his works have lost nothing of their refined and cultured dimension, as illustrated in 2004 with D’après J.-C., one of his greatest successes. Based on observation of the great sacred paintings of the Renaissance, the aim was to implement a critical reflection on the canons of the notion of beauty in art.