Vif du sujet (Le) : Petit Psaume du matin

This duo develops a soft although grotesque poetry, that witnesses an unusual meeting between choreographer Josef Nadj and Dominique Mercy, famous performer of Pina Bausch.

“My mind thinks of my mind.
My history is foreign to me.
My name surprises me and my body is idea.
What I was is with all the others.
And I am not even what I am going to be.” 

Paul Valéry

Intimate, imprinted with gentleness and complicity, Petit  psaume du matin carries the traces of the circumstances surrounding its  creation. First conceived as a solo, the piece in fact stems from  Dominique Mercy (the exceptional dancer and travelling companion to Pina  Bausch) commissioning a piece from Josef Nadj. But during the course of  rehearsing, Nadj rapidly felt the desire to abandon the strict role of  choreographer that had been attributed to him, to dance along beside his  “sponsor”… And so the initial solo became a duet.

Born from the confrontation between the two men, nourished by  the dialogue established between them, it is precisely the image of the  double and the experience of sharing that Petit psaume du matin treats.  Resemblances are evoked, possible points of identification between  Dominique Mercy and Josef Nadj, for example their experiences as  dancers, their shared taste for travel and Oriental theatre. But even  beyond this, the piece evokes the foundation of their relationship –  their complementarity – manifest in the physicality of each one and in  their respective ways of dancing,flowing and airbound for one, more  earthy and rooted for the
other –and their reciprocal intelligence,  their capacity to listen and exchange, even beyond their differences –  their mutual understanding playfully put into practice by way of a  surprising dialogue in twenty-four languages.

Hymn to friendship as well as the story of an encounter, of a  budding friendship, this duet takes up the question of mastery acquired  through practice, and so also evokes the aging of a dancer’s body. In  this sense, Petit psaume du matin is a mature piece.

Source : Myriam Bloedé

More information : http://josefnadj.com/