Poufs aux sentiments

 

Poufs aux sentiments is a fable about love, reminiscent of a distant era that bore witness to a certain taste for theatricality and artifice. Wigs, white lead, French gardens and Belle Danse are the ingredients of a permanent spectacle in which costumed bodies perform in the artificial and geometric nature of gardens, themselves designed as green theatres.

 

Without worrying about historical anachronisms, we happily draw on these archetypal representations and shared imagery. We encounter Madeleine de Scudéry, who, with her famous Map of Tendre, explores the expression of romantic feelings down to the smallest detail. We meet Rose Bertin, Minister of Fashion, who creates monumental hairstyles for her queen, sculptural wigs adorned with multiple and improbable objects. Some are intended to comment on current events, while others are designed to express a mood of the moment: these are the poufs aux sentiments.

 

And, long before the invention of these poufs, we discover burlesque ballet, a parenthesis in so-called baroque dance, whose specificity is the appearance of extraordinary costumes, formed of protuberances and enormous volumes that aim to transform the dancers’ bodies.

 

How could we remain indifferent to these distant and surprising connections with what we are developing in our work?

 

On our stage: a couple of creatures whose bodies are almost entirely devoured by an immense white, cloudy and sophisticated hairstyle, evolve in the middle of a garden of trimmed boxwood. Eden reconfigured by topiary art or Alice in Wonderland’s garden, this garden is moving, unstable, and everything comes to life. The bushes move and change shape, anthropomorphic boxwoods come to life and play.

 

And we dream Poufs aux sentiments as a vibrant celebration of love and lightness.

 

Yvan Clédat and Coco Petitpierre

 

Concept, choreography, set design, costumes Yvan Clédat and Coco Petitpierre

With

Raphaëlle Delaunay (role created by Ruth Childs), Sylvain Prunenec (Les Poufs)

Max Ricat, Coco Petitpierre (Les buis)

Sound design Stéphane Vecchione

Lighting Yan Godat

Robots Yvan Clédat and Yan Godat

Set and costume design Yvan Clédat and Coco Petitpierre

Textile assistants Anne Tesson and Céleste Clédat

Administration, distribution Clémence Huckel and Iris Cottu – Les Indépendances

 

Production TWENTYTWENTY

Executive production LeBeau et Associés

Co-production Centre National de la Danse / Pantin, L’Échangeur CDCN Hauts-de-France / Château-Thierry, Chorège CDCN Falaise Normandie, Le Maillon – Scène Européenne de Strasbourg, Le Printemps des Comédiens, Le Triangle – Cité de la danse / Rennes, Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis, CNDC Angers, Théâtre Louis-Aragon / Tremblay-en-France

 

With the support of DRAC Bretagne as part of its project funding programme.