They say all kinds of audiences fall in love with Yoann Bourgeois’s shows at first sight, perhaps because this acrobat, juggler and choreographer is determined to defy the laws of movement and create group scenes that combine exceptional technical ability, unbridled imagination and a poetry that permeates it all. We first saw him in Barcelona at the 2018 Barcelona Grec Festival with Minuit, but European audiences had long been familiar with him thanks to shows like Celui qui tombe. Here, he places six performers (are they dancers, acrobats, or both at once?) on a constantly shaking platform, subjecting them to an instability that might have much in common with the insecurities and obstacles everyone faces over the course of their lives. Forced to work together and trust each other, these artists are performing on stage, but it almost seems as if they’re talking to us about human life.
The show premièred in 2014 at the Lyon Dance Biennale, but hadn't yet been seen in Barcelona. This will be a new opportunity, following Minuit, to test the talent of this artist, who created his first company in 2010 after having performed with renowned choreographers. Trained in circus arts and dance, he was notably part of Maguy Marin's dance company and has created pieces that explore the concepts of gravity, balance and the point of suspension – the moment in which an object thrown into the air reaches the highest point of the parabola before it begins to fall – which has been the focus of quite a few of his stage creations.
From 2016 to 2022, he has been director of the National Choreographic Centre of Grenoble (CCN2), becoming the first circus artist to lead a national institution dedicated to choreographic art. Today, with his new company "Yoann Bourgeois Art Company", he continues to develop through worldwide creations, collaborations and workshops. In perpetual renewal, he is currently working on an innovative space in a Sensitive Natural Space (SNE) that will combine poetic research and environmental protection.
Produced by Yoann Bourgeois Art Company.
Coproduced by: Mc2: Grenoble - Biennale de la Danse de Lyon - Théâtre de La Ville, Paris - Maison de la Culture de Bourges - L'hippodrome, Scène Nationale de Douai - Le Manège de Reims, Scène Nationale - Le Parvis, Scène Nationale de Tarbes Pyrénées - Théâtre du Vellein - La Brèche, Pôle National des Arts du Cirque de Basse-Normandie / Cherbourg- Octeville, Théâtre National de Bretagne-Rennes.
With the support of Adami, Spedidam, Petzl.
Yoann Bourgeois Art Company is funded by Drac Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes/Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication.
Concept, staging and set design: Yoann Bourgeois. Assistant director: Marie Fonte. Performed by: Marie Bourgeois, Julien Cramillet, Jean-Yves Phuong, Sarah Silverblatt-Buser, Agnès Canova, Kerem Gelebek. Voice work: Caroline Blanpied, Jean-Baptiste Veyret-Logerias. Lighting design: Adèle Grépinet. Sound design: Antoine Garry. Wardrobe: Ginette / Sigolène Petey. Technical director: Julien Soulatre. Stage manager: Etienne Debraux. Lighting: Magali Larché. Sound: Tania Volke.
