Fan Dance [Danse des éventails] [transmission 2014]

Extrait chorégraphique remonté par la compagnie LalYre (Lyon), dans le cadre de Danse en amateur et répertoire (2013)

Choreography by Andy De Groat  
A choreographic extract remodelled by the company LalYre (Lyon), as part of the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme (2013) (a programme created to assist and promote amateur dancing).

The group

The company LalYre was set up three years ago as a result of the wish to develop creative work and to multiply stage experiences both in theatres and in unusual places. To date, the company has two pieces in its repertoire: Place de la mairie 18 h by Andréane Jenatton and Boîtes à couleurs by Margot Rémond. The company also calls on other choreographers to nurture its dance and thus try out other approaches to movement. Continually on the outlook for new inspirations and experiences, the company pursues its creative work. Today it has ten members and is self-directed. 

The project

“Fan Dance is a mixture of simple but unusual steps, to which are added precise arm movements and a constant random space. The conception of this Chinese puzzle is the apparently contradictory combination of unison and freedom of movements. It is an ode to physical, mental and sensory coordination, to group discipline and to individual freedom.” (A. De Groat)

This short five-minute piece has been interpreted in all kinds of conditions and distributions: from four to more than forty dancers. It is a piece that requires great concentration. The total attentiveness the dancers pay each other generates a very strong sensation of belonging to the group. This work presents characteristics that challenge the group in its own search around contemporary dance. 

The choreographer 

Born in 1947 in Paterson (New Jersey) and after studying the Fine Arts, Andy De Groat followed the work of Merce Cunningham, Yvonne Rainer, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. In the early 1970s, he became interested in a form of minimalism, known as spinning, a form of repetitive whirling. Robert Wilson’s interpreter, he collaborated with the stage director for ten years. In 1982, he settled in Paris and created the company Red Notes, within which he revisited the ballets of the great 19th century repertoire (Swan Lake, Giselle, La Bayadère, The Nutcracker), combining academic vocabulary and contemporary syntax.