Ulysse [transmission 2023]

A choreographic extract remodelled by the company LalYre, coordinator Margot Rémond, as part of the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme 2022/2023 (a programme created to assist and promote amateur dancing).

Transmission by Thierry Verger.

Presented on 3 June 2023, Le Triangle, Cité de la danse, in Rennes.

The piece when it was created

Ulysse

Firstly produced 13 March 1981 at the Maison de la culture in Grenoble

Choreography: Jean-Claude Gallotta

Work for eight: Mathilde Altaraz, Annie Delichères, Cathy Cambet, Anne-Marie Moenne-Loccoz, Josette Baïz, Jean-Claude Gallotta, Pascal Gravat, Robert Seyfried 

Music: Henri Torgue, Gilles Jaloustre

Original duration: 90 min

The group

The group was formed in 2011 under the direction of dance teacher Margot Rémond. Since that time, its eleven amateur dancers have developed original works and performed in atypical places. Coming from various professional fields (architecture, teaching, pharmacology, communication etc.), they meet weekly for classes in technique, as well as on five to six weekends a year to work on their performances. Each year they organise an open-stage event to present their work alongside other amateur troupes. Having learnt a dozen or so pieces, including the repertoire work Fan Dance by Andy de Groat, they have broadened their horizons, working, for example, on a project combining dance and rugby in 2021-2022. This is the third time the group is participating in the Amateur Dance and Repertoire programme. 

The project

LalYreT were drawn to Jean-Claude Gallotta’s Ulysse (1981), for its dynamic choreography that deftly combines both classical and contemporary sensibilities. Set to the music of Torgue and Houppin, the piece requires both buoyancy and mutual attentiveness, which was much appreciated by the dancers. Desirous to each find their own place on stage, the members of the group resonated with Gallotta’s way of both channeling and liberating the dancers’ personalities. Ulysse sparked three alternative versions following its creation, the most recent of which dates from 2021, giving the dancers a more ample and rich understanding of this atmospheric and unforgettable ‘white ballet’. Thierry Verger, who has danced for and collaborated with Gallotta since 1992, taught the group this extract from the piece.