Collaboration with Compagnie Basinga (ropes in Lingala, a company united around the art of tightrope walking).
Traversée is a tightrope-walking performance in the public space, at great heights. It involves the participation of about a hundred people from a given area or neighborhood. The preparation time takes place over two weeks, under the form of workshops and meetings between local residents and the company.
During this period, I set up my studio in the atelier of costume designer Louisa Gesset-Hernandez. Each encounter has its own story: thus emerge characters and photographic narratives invented by the inhabitants, potential preambles to the show's narrative.
To this date, over a hundred characters have been created.
Nada, Montpellier. Plastik was born of human waste, blown by the wind into the sea. It mixed with seaweed and gave birth to her. Plastik has come out of the water in search of humans to teach them a lesson: she transforms them into waste, so that they become aware of the pollution they generate. But since she's not a villain, this transformation is only temporary, and she later returns them to their former selves.
Aïcha, Saint-Dié des Vosges. This character wanted to have plastic surgery, but she made a mistake: she ended up going to a tailor! He sewed her mouth shut, and she has not been able to speak since. So she communicates with gestures and with the colors of wool she wraps around her braid, which have a meaning. Green here: I only want good things for others.
Amel, Garges-les-Gonesses. This character is all sweetness and enjoys spreading kisses and love all around her. But she's also clumsy, and sometimes, by squeezing and cuddling too hard, she can hurt a little.
Raquel, Aljezur. Out of the kingdom of madness, the empress of insanity hides on street corners, trying to meet locals, convert them to her madness and take them with her to her kingdom.
Paola, joy as an emotional lid, Auch. This hypersensitive character lives every emotion to the fullest. From great joy to deep sadness. She hides all her emotions under a blanket of vivid joy, exposing only this facet of herself to the gaze of others, while the rest is very much there, intense...
Sandrine, the intergalactic cleaner. Here is a facetious little creature straight from a distant planet. She's on an intergalactic cleaning mission: she has the power to rid the universe of all the rotten energies lying around!
Selma and the silly rat, Auch. This is the story of a girl who wants to become a boy. She has a pet rat to help her through the change. But it turns out that this rat, although very nice, is a bit silly. He takes her to places that suck! So our character finds themself partly changed into a boy, but not completely! They even grow hair of all colors. They no longer know who they are, and live hidden from the eyes of others. It is only when they are alone that they regain their lightness.
Armand, Auray. This professional burglar has a strong taste for fashion and loves to dress up. His preference goes to colors. Lots and lots of colors. When he goes out to do a burglary, he cannot help but dress in his favorite clothes... full of color. So he is not at all discreet and gets caught all the time!
Lenny, Auray. This is the leader of the electric turtles. His mastery of lightning means he can efficiently protect his little people.
Nathalie, Auray. She's a sleepless character. She is an insomniac and her dreams have no place to express themselves. So they end up coming out of her in the form of colorful bubbles as she waits for sleep, like waiting for a bus that never arrives.
Nona, Auray. This character had a dream during the night that a beard was growing on her chin. When she wakes up, she discovers that a beard has actually grown! She is very surprised, but soon realizes that her beard is magic: when she cuts off pieces of it and gives them to people, they organize parties immediately afterwards, with barbecues, swings and all sorts of cool stuff.
Zoé Pathherson, Chelles. Zoé's parents have abandoned her. She dreams of going to a special school, a performance school in space. She would like to make friends there.But during a performance, someone told her she would never make it. This broke her heart and she is discouraged: she is so sad that she thinks this is the end of her life, so she runs away and hides. She keeps hope alive thanks to her flower Rose, always close to her heart. You can see her heart still open, even if it is a little broken. She is waiting for someone who will see her and who will help her.
Amira, Montpellier. In the neighborhood, there is this very judgmental character. Always observing others, she is relentlessly judging. So many negative words about others have come out of her mouth that her tongue has finally fallen out. So she continues to judge, but only in her head.
Mariam, Montpellier. This woman left Morocco because the husband she was introduced to was too ugly! She crossed the sea and arrived here, incognito, to escape this horror. She lives in constant hiding, so that no one can recognize her.
Alicia, Ris Orangis. Watch out, you might just run into this person on your way through town: she hides to frighten you, so much that your tongue will fall out! From all the tongues she makes fall out of fright, she crafts an ornament that is her pride.
Choua Ib, Ris Orangis. This character has a power: when he concentrates very hard, he can take all the eyes of people around him (they stick to his helmet). This way, he can change eyes and see through those of others. As he is not too mean, he gives them back after a while.
Jadis, Ris Orangis. This young Ris Orangis resident wants to move to another town, Gis Oranrich. She exclaims, "I'll be rich there, in Gis Oranrich!
Cédric, the successful model, Reims. This model, so famous that he needs no introduction, is internationally renowned. His career is booming, and it is all going to his head. And now it is starting to swell! In secret, he regularly pierces his skull to get the glitter and bling out, and get back in touch with the real world.
Kenzo, Saint-Dié des Vosges. He made fun of a mad scientist. As an act of revenge, the scientist ripped off his arms and put new ones elsewhere on his body, made him grow a second head, put an eye in place of his heart and pulled on his ears to make them bigger.
Lucas, the wolf in the multicolored underpants, Reims. This deeply humanist wolf is fed up with children's constant fear of wolves. So he puts on his best underpants, grows hair of every color to give himself a friendly look, and sets off in search of children to cuddle, in order to finally reconcile the two species.
Mehmet, a plea for understanding, Reims. Why do boys and girls fight so much in schoolyards? Are they not fed up with it? One day, a child decides to embody both genders, in equal parts, to show that it can all work perfectly well together!
Noah, Garges-les-Gonesses. This little queen is in a bad mood all the time, because her people are always waiting outside her kingdom to ask her for things (give me this, do that for me, grant my wish). She is so fed up that she gets angry in anticipation every time she steps outside.
Tatiana, Garges-les-Gonesses. She is a superhero on a mission. Her weapons are a big pompom fist and a soccer ball. She is out to save the world and does her best, but sometimes she does not succeed - she is not perfect. So she carries around the souls of those she could not save, so as never to forget them.
Zeliha, the witch with the love potions, Reims. One day, a resident of Orgeval wanders into the forest and discovers a witch's house. She finds some love potions and decides to drink one. Horror! She had drunk the wrong bottle, and was transformed into a witch! Since then, she has been handing out love potions to make others fall in love. It is not uncommon to see her in local shops, carefully selecting her products for the preparation of new philtres.
Collaboration with Compagnie Basinga (ropes in Lingala, a company united around the art of tightrope walking).
Traversée is a tightrope-walking performance in the public space, at great heights. It involves the participation of about a hundred people from a given area or neighborhood. The preparation time takes place over two weeks, under the form of workshops and meetings between local residents and the company.
During this period, I set up my studio in the atelier of costume designer Louisa Gesset-Hernandez. Each encounter has its own story: thus emerge characters and photographic narratives invented by the inhabitants, potential preambles to the show's narrative.
To this date, over a hundred characters have been created.
Nada, Montpellier. Plastik was born of human waste, blown by the wind into the sea. It mixed with seaweed and gave birth to her. Plastik has come out of the water in search of humans to teach them a lesson: she transforms them into waste, so that they become aware of the pollution they generate. But since she's not a villain, this transformation is only temporary, and she later returns them to their former selves.
Aïcha, Saint-Dié des Vosges. This character wanted to have plastic surgery, but she made a mistake: she ended up going to a tailor! He sewed her mouth shut, and she has not been able to speak since. So she communicates with gestures and with the colors of wool she wraps around her braid, which have a meaning. Green here: I only want good things for others.
Amel, Garges-les-Gonesses. This character is all sweetness and enjoys spreading kisses and love all around her. But she's also clumsy, and sometimes, by squeezing and cuddling too hard, she can hurt a little.
Raquel, Aljezur. Out of the kingdom of madness, the empress of insanity hides on street corners, trying to meet locals, convert them to her madness and take them with her to her kingdom.
Paola, joy as an emotional lid, Auch. This hypersensitive character lives every emotion to the fullest. From great joy to deep sadness. She hides all her emotions under a blanket of vivid joy, exposing only this facet of herself to the gaze of others, while the rest is very much there, intense...
Sandrine, the intergalactic cleaner. Here is a facetious little creature straight from a distant planet. She's on an intergalactic cleaning mission: she has the power to rid the universe of all the rotten energies lying around!
Selma and the silly rat, Auch. This is the story of a girl who wants to become a boy. She has a pet rat to help her through the change. But it turns out that this rat, although very nice, is a bit silly. He takes her to places that suck! So our character finds themself partly changed into a boy, but not completely! They even grow hair of all colors. They no longer know who they are, and live hidden from the eyes of others. It is only when they are alone that they regain their lightness.
Armand, Auray. This professional burglar has a strong taste for fashion and loves to dress up. His preference goes to colors. Lots and lots of colors. When he goes out to do a burglary, he cannot help but dress in his favorite clothes... full of color. So he is not at all discreet and gets caught all the time!
Lenny, Auray. This is the leader of the electric turtles. His mastery of lightning means he can efficiently protect his little people.
Nathalie, Auray. She's a sleepless character. She is an insomniac and her dreams have no place to express themselves. So they end up coming out of her in the form of colorful bubbles as she waits for sleep, like waiting for a bus that never arrives.
Nona, Auray. This character had a dream during the night that a beard was growing on her chin. When she wakes up, she discovers that a beard has actually grown! She is very surprised, but soon realizes that her beard is magic: when she cuts off pieces of it and gives them to people, they organize parties immediately afterwards, with barbecues, swings and all sorts of cool stuff.
Zoé Pathherson, Chelles. Zoé's parents have abandoned her. She dreams of going to a special school, a performance school in space. She would like to make friends there.But during a performance, someone told her she would never make it. This broke her heart and she is discouraged: she is so sad that she thinks this is the end of her life, so she runs away and hides. She keeps hope alive thanks to her flower Rose, always close to her heart. You can see her heart still open, even if it is a little broken. She is waiting for someone who will see her and who will help her.
Amira, Montpellier. In the neighborhood, there is this very judgmental character. Always observing others, she is relentlessly judging. So many negative words about others have come out of her mouth that her tongue has finally fallen out. So she continues to judge, but only in her head.
Mariam, Montpellier. This woman left Morocco because the husband she was introduced to was too ugly! She crossed the sea and arrived here, incognito, to escape this horror. She lives in constant hiding, so that no one can recognize her.
Alicia, Ris Orangis. This young Ris Orangis resident wants to move to another town, Gis Oranrich. She exclaims, "I'll be rich there, in Gis Oranrich!
Choua Ib, Ris Orangis. This character has a power: when he concentrates very hard, he can take all the eyes of people around him (they stick to his helmet). This way, he can change eyes and see through those of others. As he is not too mean, he gives them back after a while.
Jadis, Ris Orangis. Watch out, you might just run into this person on your way through town: she hides to frighten you, so much that your tongue will fall out! From all the tongues she makes fall out of fright, she crafts an ornament that is her pride.
Cédric, the successful model, Reims. This model, so famous that he needs no introduction, is internationally renowned. His career is booming, and it is all going to his head. And now it is starting to swell! In secret, he regularly pierces his skull to get the glitter and bling out, and get back in touch with the real world.
Kenzo, Saint-Dié des Vosges. He made fun of a mad scientist. As an act of revenge, the scientist ripped off his arms and put new ones elsewhere on his body, made him grow a second head, put an eye in place of his heart and pulled on his ears to make them bigger.
Lucas, the wolf in the multicolored underpants, Reims. This deeply humanist wolf is fed up with children's constant fear of wolves. So he puts on his best underpants, grows hair of every color to give himself a friendly look, and sets off in search of children to cuddle, in order to finally reconcile the two species.
Mehmet, a plea for understanding, Reims. Why do boys and girls fight so much in schoolyards? Are they not fed up with it? One day, a child decides to embody both genders, in equal parts, to show that it can all work perfectly well together!
Noah, Garges-les-Gonesses. This little queen is in a bad mood all the time, because her people are always waiting outside her kingdom to ask her for things (give me this, do that for me, grant my wish). She is so fed up that she gets angry in anticipation every time she steps outside.
Tatiana, Garges-les-Gonesses. She is a superhero on a mission. Her weapons are a big pompom fist and a soccer ball. She is out to save the world and does her best, but sometimes she does not succeed - she is not perfect. So she carries around the souls of those she could not save, so as never to forget them.
Zeliha, the witch with the love potions, Reims. One day, a resident of Orgeval wanders into the forest and discovers a witch's house. She finds some love potions and decides to drink one. Horror! She had drunk the wrong bottle, and was transformed into a witch! Since then, she has been handing out love potions to make others fall in love. It is not uncommon to see her in local shops, carefully selecting her products for the preparation of new philtres.