Le corps de la ville #00

A l’occasion de l’épisode fondateur de la série, le réalisateur Nicolas Habas, accompagné par la jeune danseuse Ophélie Rehm, a choisi de tourner dans un lieu symbolique : il s’agit du passage souterrain situé sous l’échangeur autoroutier de Perrache.

A la fois utile (il permet aux piétons d’éviter l’autoroute du soleil qui coupe le centre ville de Lyon en deux) et mal vécue par les usagers (odeur d’urine persistante, crainte de mauvaises rencontres…), ce passage offre une vue imprenable sur un ouvrage à l’urbanisme maladroit qui réserve cependant des trésors de poésie à qui sait regarder….

In this documentary serial, each place consists of an original choreographic proposal, created and filmed in situ, in its natural sound environment. A work that requires a rigorous filming device, in which I am looking for a bridge where choreographic and cinematographic creation could enlighten each other. Also, I am in a permanent creative bond with the choreographers to transcribe with them the intentions of the proposed dance, in view of its environment.

The first step is upstream of the shooting, and consists in finding the location of the shooting with the dancer. It is not a question of investing space arbitrarily, but of integrating the dancer’s personal and living experience into telling it. The choice also derives from the visual and choreographic cinematographic potential and its historical and sociological significance.

The second stage is that of writing, the result of a collaboration between the body of the dancer, the camera, and the chosen space.

The work begins on the basis of a concerted improvisation. It is a question of letting oneself be grasped by the sensations to which the chosen place sends us: the colors, the matter of the floors, the circulation of light and the flow of individuals are as many materials likely to nourish and frame the writing. The hand rests on a wall, the foot slides on gravel, a body tastes the freshness of the shade under a tree… And already a story is woven between a body and a moving gaze, which will result in a rigorous technical cutting, in which the movements of the choreography are written according to certain camera axes.

This meticulous writing allows us to concentrate, at the time of filming, on the excellence of the choreographic gesture, and the quality of natural light. Like an actor, the dancer perfects his gestures, while I play with the shadows and contrasts created by the evolution of natural lighting.

Meeting point between a place and a body, between the choreographic and cinematographic creation of the documentary, in direct connection with the history of a territory, its inhabitants and its users, Le corps de la ville, wishes above all to make the poetry of dance accessible to all.