Showtime at Ouagadougou

Philippe Ménard and his partner Burkinabe dancer Boukson Sere investigates a construction site in Ouagadougou, Burkina Fasso, and invite us to question the notion of « showtime ». (Philippe Ménard Company)

Réalisation & chorégraphie : Cie. Philippe Ménard

Direction & choreography : Philippe Ménard Company

In memory of Wilfride Piollet

Dance is a shared art form. Most often we dance with someone, for someone, or with something, as part of a couple or a group. The celebrated pas de deux of classical ballet is emblematic of the traditional duo, but diverse other forms of partnership exist, including those between an object and a dancer (from Charlie Chaplin’s cane to Jan Fabre’s dance with olive oil), and the landscape in a work of site-specific performance, among others. As for screendance, it is by nature an intimate partnership betweeen image making and dance. This selection proposes to examine the role of the “duo” in contemporary screendance through a choice of international short films.

Forgotten Space (United-Kingdom, 2013) – direction & choreography: Wren Ball & Angharad Harrop. A film that demonstrates a partnership between two dancers, but also between the landscape and architecture, exploring the notion of absence/presence. –> film

Staff (Spain, 2013) – direction: Damian Munoz, Virginia Garcia & Pol Turrents / choreography: Damian Munoz & Virginia Garcia. The directors of this film write: “the need to be recognized for our acts makes us rely on someone as a witness. The witness becomes our weakness, from which comes the strength to defend and protect it… it is impossible to live without knowing others because it is impossible to live without knowing that we are essential to someone”. –> film

Globe Trot (USA, 2013) – direction: Mitchell Rose / choreography: Bebe Miller. 54 international screendance artists contributed two seconds of dance, choreographed by Bebe Miller and performed by non-dancers, to this collective film, a dance duo with the world. –> film

Showtime at Ouagadougou (France, 2009) – direction & choreography by company Phillipe Ménard. Philippe Ménard and partner Burkinabe dancer Boukson Sere investigate a contruction site in Ouagadougou, Burkina Fasso and invite us to question the notion of “showtime”. The film investigates the shiny veneer that hides another reality, that of a society attempting to construt itself and exist on the “world stage” –> film

Snöplog (United-Kingdom, 2013) – direction: Chien-Ming & Katy Pendlebury. In this film, two hands work together. The director’s choice to feature one hand from each performer, instead of both, is significant in the resulting vulnerability that makes their collaboration essential, each an equal partner in this tabletop duo for hands that navigates and constructs shifting forms. –> film

Sequential (USA, 2013) – direction: Amanda Kapp / choreography & dance: Cynthia Ahlers & Olivia Beckley. Emphasizing the passage of time and the changing of the seasons, this film features two dancers, one visibly older than the other, to explore questions of lineage, which, from a choreographic point of view, alternates movement motifs executed in sequence, simultaneously, alone, and as a duo. –> film

To My Dear Cinematographer (USA, 2012) – direction: Zaoli Zhong. In Screendance, the relationship between dance on screen and that of the camera is essential. This film creates a tangible link to their pas de deux via a long panel of cloth that connects camera person and dancer in their ongoing interaction. –> film 

Espaços Anônimos(Brazil, 2012) – direction: Tatiana Guimaraes. Inspired by Marc Augé’s concept of the “non-place”, this film establishes a series of partnerships in collaboration with two pairs of dancers moving in a cycle of foreground/background, as well as with colors, the ground, etc. –> film