Good morning, Mr Gershwin

The two choreographers found plenty of connections between the approach of the American composer, who encouraged a certain porosity between high and low art, and their own artistic standpoint.

“After staging George Gershwin’s masterpiece Porgy and Bess at the Lyon Opéra, José Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu kept the blue note as they embarked upon this Gershwin project. The two choreographers found plenty of connections between the approach of the American composer, who encouraged a certain porosity between high and low art, and their own artistic standpoint. ‘Porgy and Bess includes jazz, Charleston and classical, conceived as a collection – or collage even – of cultures, a permanent hybridisation which is to be found in our own ballets. We resemble Gershwin in this shifting between highbrow and popular, registers which move each other along more rather than ignoring each other. This is Gershwin’s great strength,’ observes Dominique Hervieu. This creation is nourished by imagery from the great era of Broadway musicals, with their incredible inventiveness, and of 1930s Hollywood films.   
Fourteen performers take part in this whirlwind of movement. An integral part of American collective memory, Gershwin said, with disarming sincerity, that two things were important in music: ideas and feelings. And he dared to compare this to the skyscrapers of his home town, New York! This palette of emotions and musical virtuosity – Gershwin’s own – has today been adopted by the choreographers José Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu. Without doubt, their world, with its abundance of images, invention and movement, is the worthy heir to a certain spirit, stamped Gershwin.” 
Philippe Noisette Press


Credits

Chorégraphie José Montalvo et Dominique Hervieu créé avec et interprété par Mansour Abdessadok (dit Pitch), Warren Adien, Arthur Benhamou, Franz Cadiche, Katia Charmeaux, Émeline Colonna, Nicolas Fayol, Blaise Kouakou, Mélanie Lomoff, Christelle Nazarin, Sabine Novel, P. Lock, Karla Pollux, Priska, Alex Tuy (dit Rotha) scénographie et conception vidéo José Montalvo musique George Gershwin création sonore Catherine Lagarde clarinettes solo Renaud Pion costumes Dominique Hervieu lumière Vincent Paoli collaborateur artistique Vincent Rafis collaborateurs à la vidéo Pascal Minet, Étienne Aussel infographie Frank Chastanier, Sylvain Decay, Amel El Kamel, Clio Gavagni, Michel Jaen Montalvo, Valérie Toumayan assistante à la chorégraphie Joëlle Iffrig chef de projet Yves Favier Production Théâtre National de Chaillot / Centre Chorégraphique National de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne – Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu / Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg / Biennale de la danse de Lyon / Théâtre National de Bretagne / Hetmusiektheater, Amsterdam / MC2 : Grenoble / Maison des arts de Créteil / Le Théâtre – Scène Nationale de Narbonne / Espace Jean Legendre – Théâtre de CompiègneProduction Maison de la Danse date du document vidéo 2008 réalisation vidéo Charles PicqDurée de l’œuvre 1h20