La Jeune Fille et la mort [transmission 2018]

(Death and the Maiden) [2018 remodelled version]

An extract remodelled by La Mécanique du Bonheur (Blois, Centre-Val de Loire), artistic manager Suzanne Guichard, as part of the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme (2017/2018) (a programme created to assist and promote amateur dancing).

Transmission by Raphaël Cottin.

Presented on 26 May 2018, Les 2 Scènes, Théâtre Ledoux, Besançon.

The piece when it was created

Firstly produced from 15 to 21 March 2012 at the Théâtre national de Chaillot in Paris

Choreoraphy: Thomas Lebrun

Piece for 7 performers:  Odile Azagury, Anthony Cazaux, Raphaël Cottin, Christine Gérard, Anne-Sophie Lancelin, Corinne Lopez, Christian Ubl

Music: La Jeune Fille et la mort, Schubert, String Quartet n°14, D.810, Lied opus 7 n° 13, D 351

Original duration: 1h

The group

La Mécanique du bonheur (Blois, Centre-Val de Loire)

The group is derived from the contemporary dance association for seniors, La Mécanique du Bonheur, created in 2010. Either seniors or over 50, some people had never danced before participating in the workshops, while others had attended classes from a very early age. They all find in contemporary dance an opportunity to continue practising a physical activity allowing them to keep fit and express their creativity. 

The project 

Thomas Lebrun is the director of the CCN de Tours, a city close to Blois where the association La Mécanique du Bonheur is based. The amateur dancers have worked for several years with the choreographer Simon Choplain, who creates with them an annual show based on personal compositions and improvisations. They thought it necessary to try out a new working method: learning and studying in depth the choreographic writing of a repertoire piece. Thomas Lebrun proposed that the group revive an extract from his piece La jeune fille et la mort (Death and the Maiden), suited to the technical level and physical abilities of the group. The maiden in the piece is confronted with the different ages of life and comes across women marked by time. These were the themes that made this group want to immerse itself in this work.