retour aux répertoires
Premiere show in march 2010 at the Quartz, scène nationale of Brest
The “danse libre” is a dance style and technique developed by François Malkovsky (1889-1982). Made famous in the inter-war period by the recitals he gave at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées, Malkovsky is a singular and little-known figure in the history of dance. Influenced by the revolutionary aesthetics of Isadora Duncan and in search of an ideal of freedom, his dance is inspired by ancient sculptural figures and his instinctive analysis of the movements of nature and animals. Her repertoire consists mainly of solos and duets, but also includes some group dances. All dances are short, linked to a theme or expression (“The Sea”, “Youth”, “Constant Thought”, “Morning Song”) and always accompanied by the piano.
©Laurent Paillier
In 2007 we met Suzanne Bodak, who, from the 1960s, followed François Malkovsky’s daily teaching for almost 15 years. The discovery of Malkovsky’s repertoire through his teaching was dazzling. The oblivion into which this pioneering artist had fallen gave us the exhilarating feeling – as archaeologists must feel when unearthing new sites – of discovering an unsuspected heritage. Our project is to seize these dances in order to invent our own interpretations. They touch us today by their aesthetic strangeness, their desire to communicate directly, and their powerful faith in a free man, emancipated and in dialogue with nature. Confronting Malkovsky’s artistic, political and choreographic urgencies is a way of questioning the actuality of our world and our way of thinking about dance. The exploration of this repertoire is thus less the rehabilitation of a forgotten heritage than its irreverent devouring: how can our bodies, today, feel the acuity of these gestures to transmit their own versions?
l’équipe
co-production
& production
co-productions
Le Quartz Scène nationale de Brest, La Ménagerie de Verre Paris, AMM Musique-Mouvement, CNDC Angers, Théâtre de Vanves / Festival Artdanthé, Festival Uzès Danse.