Benjamin de Bouillis

The solo is inspired by a study on ‘decorporation’ (the sensation of being able to perceive your own body from the outside). He plays on the mise-en-abîme, not only of the body but also of the person who is supposed to recognize himself within.

Foofwa d’Imobilité presents “Benjamin de Bouillis”, a solo inspired by a study of the neurologist, Olaf Blanke, on ‘decorporation’ (the sensation of being able to perceive your own body from the outside, as if it was alien, from a distance). Foofwa plays on the mise-en-abîme, not only of the body but also of the person who is supposed to recognize himself within. A piece of work on the identity of the dancer, a reflection of oneself as if one was another (ref. “La Passion d’être un autre” (The Passion of Being Another), “Étude pour la danse” (Study for the Dance) by Pierre Legendre). The work is also enhanced by a character from James Joyce’s “Finnegan’s Wake”. In this novel, the actor Benjamin de Bouillis plays the avatars of the human comedy, whereas his twin brother, a professional mime artist, caricatures them.            
Foofwa d’Imobilité breathes life into this character; his “Benjamin de Bouillis” places great emphasis on the analogies between pathological cases and the work of the choreographer-performer. And, through dance, illustrates the many and varied phenomena of duplicity. The soundtrack also uses an array of voices to express the strangeness of being both a body and a brain, not to mention being a soul…

Source: Maison de la Danse of Lyon performance programme

“Yesterday, while crossing the street
I remembered
I had seen
Bare-headed
Someone that seemed familiar to me
I only saw myself once last year
I seemed
To be in the air
A few centimetres above the ground.”

(extract from the soundtrack: Gérard Manset, “Le Paradis Terrestre”, taken from the album “La mort d’Orion”, 1970)