Waterzooï [transmission 2023]

A choreographic extract remodelled by the group compagnie Jeunes Danseurs, coordinators Sara Ducat, Sandra Pellegrino, as part of the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme 2022/2023 (a programme created to assist and promote amateur dancing). Transmission by Isabelle Missal.

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

The piece when it was created

Waterzooï 

Firstly produced 5 November 1993 at the Romolo Valli Theatre in Reggio Emilia (Italy)

Choreography: Maguy Marin

Work for thirteen performers: Ulises Alvarez, Preciosa Gil, Jean-Marc Lamena, Mychel Lecoq, Bastien Parnasse, Françoise Leick, Isabelle Missal, Thierry Partaud, Sabina Piccione, Cathy Polo, Barbara Sarreau, Dominique Uber and Karim Sebbar 

Music: Denis Mariotte

Original duration: 1h20

The group

Based in Toulouse, the group is made up of ten young dancers, students aged from fourteen to twenty and trained in various styles, from classical to contemporary and jazz. Founded in 2013, the troupe works with choreographer Sara Ducat alongside participating in monthly workshops in dance and also acrobatics, singing and theatre, run by various artists, including Ethan Cazaux from the company Käfig and Aure Wachter from that of Rachid Ouramdane. 

The project

Maguy Marin created Waterzooï in 1993. While less well known than her celebrated, May B, Waterzooï is a fascinating work requiring performers to become consummate all-rounders: dancing, speaking and playing music. Its multidisciplinary nature attracted the group to the piece, alongside the rhythmic interplay between the choreography and the music of Denis Mariotte, and the work’s philosophical themes, inspired by Descartes’ treatise on The Passions of the Soul. Waterzooï speaks to the conflicting sensations that are common to the human experience. The chosen extract hinges on the concept of the void, with a specific exploration of acrobatic lifts. Isabelle Missal, who has danced with Maguy Marin for over twenty years, passed the work on to the group.