dancers : christine bombal, philippe chosson, pep garrigues, kerem gelebek, wouter krokaert, i-fang lin, tamar shelef.
lighting : cathy olive
original score : didier ambact, bruno chevillon, gerome nox
songs : mark tompkins
songs performed by mark tompkins :
"I know it's over" and "the boy with the thorn in his side" by morrissey
"something more" by mark lewis tompkins
"mystery of love" by marianne faithfull
and excerpts from "asphodel, that greeny flower" by william carlos williams
and "presages d'innocence /mummer love" by patti smith
assistant director : sophie laly
stage manager : jean-michel hugo
sound : juliette wion
lighting : arnaud lavisse
spheres : jerome dupraz and luc moreau (prototoutyp)
stage elements built by : Opera de Lille workshop.
producer : l'association fragile
coproduced by : Opera de Lille, Theatre de la Ville de Paris, deSingel in Antwerp, ARCADI (initiative for regional artistic creation and promotion in ile de France) and Opera de Dijon.
coproducers who donated time in their studios : Centre Choregraphique National de Franche Comte in Belfort, CNDC / Centre National de Danse Contemporaine d'Angers, Centre Choregraphique National du Havre / Haute-Normandie.
Support for this production has been provided by the Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication DICREAM fund, the SACD Stage Music Fund, and Ars Numerica.
with support from la Chaufferie / compagnie DCA Philippe Decoufle...
and our thanks to: Patti Smith, Thomas Delamarre and Marie Lannurien
Spheres of Love
"(...) Christian Rizzo expresses his love of the baroque in this imitation planetarium where planets and dancers are sent into orbit.
The faces of the seven performers are covered with veils (...) attached to the hoods of their tracksuits - a striking effect of a faceless world blindly moving forward. Later in the piece, they all carry potted plants around.
In short, could they be the guardians of a bit of nature that needs to be moved to another sphere
A bassist, a drummer and an electro-acoustic musician (Didier Ambact, Bruno Chevillon, Gerome Nox) seem to be levitating up on a platform.
Choreographer/performer Mark Tompkins is like a little satellite on stage, whispering love songs into a microphone. Along with the duets, they remind us that love is what the piece is all about lifts from the partner's back to the floor, bodies reshuffled by the group, one dancer posed on the other's buttocks, couples divorcing due to the others.
The black spheres don't interfere directly with their fragile moving bodies, but are triggered by each new configuration, coming closer, like huge cannonballs shot into a crowd in slow motion."
L'Humanite - Muriel Steinmetz - Monday 10 March 2008
Christian Rizzo's mon amour: choreography a la Gus Van Sant...
The intense, solid and highly stimulating opening images in Christian Rizzo's piece create a strong impression. (...)
The choreography oscillates between pure movement, contact improvisation and dance. The performers lift and drop each other, seemingly unconnected. Green plants are possibly a first pointer - elements of nature in a pot, yet quite vibrant and luxurious, which they move around ceaselessly. (...)
May I touch you?
The second and most important reference is the Other, the one you try to kiss but who escapes, whom you carry, support or sweep off, but never force.
These contacts seem to express the fragility of the one being carried, and the strength demanded of the one carrying.
Poems by William Carlos Williams and songs by Morissey, Marianne Faithfull and Patti Smith performed by Mark Tompkins add another layer to the trip-hop rock 'n' roll melodies in the background.
The lyrics speak of love, wandering, forgiveness, rebirth, childhood, the other, escapes and open doors. The words create a layer of surround-sound that you can't really hear at times but that rocks and caresses you. (...)
"May I touch yoooouuu" is like a desperate love song daring to express itself.
Pas de deux and solitary explorations, simple gestures and frenzied explosions echo these potential encounters - with no trace of rigid grace or academic poses, but harmoniously in sync with the bodies. The dancers' faces and patches of skin gradually appear.
Later there is an invasion of black spheres and Tompkins alone in this absurd, smoke-filled desert, echo of a mild apocalypse.
One is reminded of Gus Van Sant, of faded innocence, a sensitivity that is sometimes abrupt, the sensuality of jeans, rock 'n' roll, and ever-so-green plants.
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