A.H.C. - Albertine, Hector et Charles

In A.H.C – Albertine, Charles et Hector, Denis Plassard explores the new expressive and poetic potential of a corps-à-corps between puppets and dancers.

In A.H.C – Albertine, Charles et Hector, Denis Plassard explores the new expressive and poetic potential of a corps-à-corps between puppets and dancers. “Create dance for puppets” was the brief self-set by the choreographer, who’s always game for a nutty challenge. After his collaboration with Émilie Valantin during the previous Biennale Défilé, he was keen to “study puppets’ ritual and timeless bodies”, explo- ring the subject and mixing his own language with the language of these strange creatures. He chose to work on a life-size, articulated puppet, which it was necessary to design in conjunction with Émilie Valan- tin, because it had to be possible for one person to operate it, whereas usually each one needs three puppeteers, as in the Japanese bunraku. Plassard thus had to understand the body’s mechanics, find a way of articulating the back, and open up fresh avenues: “inventing a method of operating the puppets”.A.H.C – Albertine, Charles et Hector is presented as the second part of a trilogy entitled Le cycle de la manipulation, which began with Suivez les instructions and will continue in 2017-2018 with Macbeth/Verdi. However, each of the three pieces is self-contained. A.H.C uses a simple device: the piece plunges the three protagonists of the first episode into hell. A hell reminiscent of Dante’s, but revisited in Plassard’s extravagant style. A hell where everyone is punished for their sins; where Hector, the husband, is forced to spin on his head because he has a tendency to be big-headed; where the couple must dance a waltz although they hate touching each other, and so on. Albertine, Hector and Charles, the troublemaker, all find themselves tossed into the dark depths, becoming puppets totally dependent on their operators. Without gravity, hell is a strange place where bodies can fly about, glide, and collapse like a pile of old rags. On stage: three puppeteers followed by three shadows which animate them and by three voices, those of two beatboxers and a singer. In total, nine characters who kick over their tracks and keep us guessing. Playing on the intersection between manipulator and manipulated, the three shadows relish sweeping the three puppets into devilish choreographies, at once burlesque and disjointed. A fiendish sarabande where no one knows who’s calling the tunes in this dance of the damned. A madcap dance piece that carries the audience to the edge of the abyss – and of hysterical laughter..

Source : Biennale de la Danse

CreditsConception, choreography and direction Denis PlassardPuppets Emilie ValantinDancers, operator Sonia Delbost-Henry, Annette Labry, Denis PlassardVoices (performance and creation) Florent Clergial, Nicolas Giemza, Jessica Martin-MarescoLights Dominique RyoStage manager and sound Eric DutriévozCostumes Julie LascoumesMakeup and wig of puppets Emmeline BeaussierCoach Xavier GresseVideo production  Maison de la Danse in the context of Biennale de la danseVideo direction Fabien Plasson2016