Ratatat [transmission 2014]

Extrait chorégraphique remonté par le groupe Danseurs en herbe (Bagnolet), coordinatrice artistique Édith Bellomo, dans le cadre de Danse en amateur et répertoire (2013)

Choreography by Hanya Holm  
A choreographic extract remodelled by the group Danseurs en herbe (Bagnolet), artistic coordinator Édith Bellomo, as part of the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme (2013) (a programme created to assist and promote amateur dancing).

The group

Danseurs en herbe is a choreographic ensemble resulting from the workshops of the Conservatoire de danse de Bagnolet, Jocus association. This group was set up in 2006 for the creation of the show Du corps à l’âme, a choreography by Édith Bellomo. Since 2008, thanks to the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme, it has been enriched by the addition of repertoire work, with revivals of extracts from Béatrice Massin’s Que ma joie demeure in 2008, and Jean-Claude Gallotta’s Ulysse in Josette Baïz’s version in 2010, as well as, in 2011, Jean-Claude Gallotta’s Trois Générations with Jean Pomarès and Hee Jee Kim, for a project of the Fédération française de danse. In 2012, the group revived Doris Humphrey’s Passacaglia and Fugue with Jean-Marc Piquemal (dancer – Labanotator), the founding piece of a cultural exchange with the dance department of Irvine Valley College University in California.

The project 

As the aim was to pursue and further the work of discovery of American modern dance pioneers, who else to choose but Hanya Holm? Through her personality and choreographic approach, she provides the link between German Expressionism, Mary Wigman’s school, and 20th century American modern dance.

A 15-minute piece, Ratatat was originally a choreography for five dancers conjuring up joy, the pride of circus parades, street processions, and military marches. It consists of a beginning, followed by five solos, and then a repeat practically identical to the opening march. The choice was that of the choreographic score written in 1989 by Irène Fox in Labanotation. The group planned to return to Irvine Valley College, USA, in the summer 2014.

The choreographer

Born in 1893 in Worms, Germany, Hanya Holm was a student and dancer with Mary Wigman. In 1931, fleeing from Nazi persecution, she opened a Wigman school in New York, renamed the Hanya Holm Studio in 1936. 

In addition to works for her own company, she choreographed musicals such as Kiss me Kate (1948), My Fair Lady (1956) and Camelot (1960) and encouraged use of dance notation. When she created Ratatat in 1982, she was ninety-two years old, proving the tremendous vitality of this woman who had lived through the tumult of the 20th century! Among her disciples are a large number of American artists, dancers and choreographers, including Alwin Nikolais.