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The Centre Chorégraphique National, Le Havre Haute-Normandie is part of a French network of nineteen centres, grouped into a association of national choreography centres. It fosters the artistic development of dance to a very high standard. Directed by a choreographer, Hervé Robbe, this institution is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Communication, the Haute-Normandie Regional Cultural Affairs Service, the Haute-Normandie Region and the municipality of Le Havre.
The centre’s main brief is the creation and production of Hervé Robbe’s shows. This creative work takes place in premises consisting of two studios, one of which is technically equipped for performances. To aid the creative process, the centre possesses film technology which allows for experimentation with on-stage video and sound equipment. This facility makes the centre unique within the network.
Other artistic initiatives run alongside this main aim. Every year, the centre offers support for artistic projects under the “studio welcome” scheme, by hosting several groups of artists for a period of residency.
As a resource and teaching centre, it contributes to the knowledge and practice of choreographic art, serving both dance professionals and the general public.
The centre regularly organises artistic events, with programmes of shows and exhibitions. Since 2006 it has run a festival under the name of Météores, which takes place every year in May. This includes shows, films and installations.
The Centre Chorégraphique National, Le Havre Haute-Normandie is a charitable association (loi 1901). Its president is François Chesnais.
Director : Hervé Robbe
Associate director : Carole Rambaud
Dancers : Julien Andujar, Alexia Bigot, Romain Cappello, Emilie Cornillot, Sarah Crépin, Massimo Fusco, Carole Quettier, Nicolas Hubert, Cédric Lequileuc, Johana Lemarchand, Pedro Mendes, Claire Tran, Juan Manuel Vicente.
Artistic collaborators :
Video maker : Vincent Bosc ; lighting design : François Maillot ; composer : Andrea Cera et Romain Kronenberg ; costume design : Katy Garnier, Alexandra Bertaut ; sound : Etienne Cuppens.
Technical director : Yannick Méheust
www.ccnhhn-robbe.com
HERVÉ ROBBE
Born in Lille in 1961. After studying architecture for a few years, Hervé Robbe set his sights on dance. He was principally trained at Mudra, Maurice Béjart’s school in Brussels. He began his performing career dancing the neo-classical repertoire, then went on to work with various modern dance makers.
In 1987 he founded his company: le Marietta secret.
The course of his career is clearly founded on a constant renewal of his choreographic writing. Supported by loyal artistic collaborators, his work has become increasingly sophisticated over the years, associating the dance presence with visual, sound and technological worlds. His projects, polysemic works, take many forms: frontal performance, ambulatory shows and installations.
The place of the audience, its presence and view is decisive; the stage space is regularly called into question.
His arrival at the CCN (National choreographic Centre) of Le Havre Haute-Normandie offered more opportunities for his research.
In 1999 he composed his autobiographical solo "Polaroïd". Within it, video images of places associated with his childhood appear and coexist with an uninterrupted physical display.
In 2000 he explored the theme of home with “Permis de construire”– “Avis de Démolition”, a diptych consisting of an installation and a performance. He went on to tackle the theme of the garden in 2002 with “Des Horizons Perdus”.
In a world constructed with screens – virtual containers for the body, evokers of death – in the duet “REW” he engaged in a dialogue between man and woman on the theme of suicide. In 2004, with the group piece “Mutating Score”, he returned to the idea of the performance area being a common space occupied by both audience and dancers. This installation-dance, while reaffirming this conviction about the force of movement, marks the culmination of a project on the use of new technologies, which are integrated into the show in real time.
In 2006 he designed the installation “So long as baby...love and songs will be”, a kind of manifesto of the preoccupations which underlie his work. The device is a containing structure in which the audience is invited to watch and listen to the dancer-singers present on screen. Hervé Robbe distanced himself from the stage with this, then returned to it in the works “Là, on y danse” in 2007 and “Next days” in 2010.
While maintaining his personal approach in his own productions, he regularly accepts commissions from the Opéra de Lyon, the Gulbenkian Ballet, the CNSMDP (Paris Conservatoire) and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Source : Centre Chorégraphique National du Havre Haute-Normandie
More information
www.ccnhhn-robbe.com
Updating : February 2011
There is no english translation available.
