Partita [transmission 2016]

Extrait remonté par le Junior Ballet (Toulon), responsable artistique Nicole Vivier, dans le cadre de Danse en amateur et répertoire (2015)

An extract remodelled by the Junior Ballet (Toulon), artistic manager Nicole Vivier, as part of the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme (2015) (a programme created to assist and promote amateur dancing).

The group
Set up in 2008 in Toulon (Var), the Ballet Junior, led by Nicole Vivier, is the home port of determined students hailing from the four Conservatoire sites spread out over the Toulon urban area. Aged 16 to 40, these dancers, from different backgrounds and styles, wish to further their horizons and develop their interpreting potential by meeting with artists. They rehearse in a studio located in La Vallette-du-Var. 

The project
Wishing to get to know better the world of the trailblazer Doris Humphrey, the group chose Partita, choreographed in 1942, as the piece juxtaposes two languages: modern through its dance, and baroque through its music. An aesthetic shock that it seemed interesting to get to grips with. With Claire Roucolle, an expert in the remodelling of repertoire pieces and who had already danced this show with the company Labkine, the aim was to trace Humphrey’s legacy and her influence today, while at the same time refining the relationship between dance and music. Four very short dances (sarabande, courante, minuet, gigue) were selected, and presented by seven female dancers in a setting of seven small stools. A pianist on stage accompanied the show. 

The choreographer
A figure of American dance, Doris Humphrey (1895-1958) studied music, classical and folk dance, as well as Dalcroze eurhythmics. She founded the company Humphrey-Weidman, with Charles Weidman, in 1928 in New York. Also present on Broadway, she danced up to 1944 and choreographed pieces for her troupe before becoming the artistic director of the company José Limón in 1946. Inspired by natural phenomena and driven by a powerful humanism, she has a dramatic, strong writing style.