Choreography by Odile Duboc  
A choreographic extract remodelled by the group Le Château Coquelle (Dunkerque), artistic coordinator Marion Merlin, as part of the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme (2013) (a programme created to assist and promote amateur dancing).

The group

The group Le Château Coquelle is made up of amateur dancers who have attended classical and contemporary dance workshops since the age of five. Their teacher, Christine Vandenbussche, organises each year a dance show that she herself choreographs, consisting of a presentation of that year’s workshop and creative work. The group takes part in choreographic meetings and in regional and national competitions. The workshops also aim at preparing dancers for the stage. Le Château Coquelle’s dance workshops have already participated in the “Danse en amateur et repertoire” programme with Françoise Rognerud for Odile Duboc’s piece Trois Boléros. The group wishes to prolong its learning of Odile Duboc’s works and to pursue the choreographic work with Françoise Rognerud. 

The project

Insurrection was created in 1989 by Odile Duboc. Originally, this 1 hour and 15 minute piece for twenty dancers, was made up of three parts: l’Ordre établi, followed by the insurrectional part, a transition and Codicille. This piece is played on a bare stage, where all the work focuses on the mass effect, the simple costumes and a play on light. The l’Ordre établi part expresses the rigidity of lines, the insurrectional part shows a deconstruction, while the Codicille introduces a return to serenity. The chosen extract is the first ten minutes of l’Ordre établi for the group effect, the large number of dancers, the construction and casualness of the lines, and the attentiveness required by the dancers who have to work in close harmony.

The choreographer

A key figure of French contemporary dance, Odile Duboc was the first to send her dancers into the streets of Aix-en-Provence, like a flock of starlings. She was the oldest of that generation of choreographers of the Nouvelle Danse Française (New French Dance), and left some of the most important pieces of that movement, in particular Projet de la matière, created in 1993 and which marked a major milestone. Her work has lastingly influenced and inspired many dancers, now choreographers. A tireless pedagogue, convinced of the importance of transmission, she paradoxically stipulated in her will that she did not want her pieces to be remodelled, with just a few exceptions. This is therefore an exceptional opportunity to discover an extract from this piece created in 1989. 

A classical  dancer and self-taught teacher in Aix-en-Provence, Odile Duboc created her own school Les Ateliers de la danse in the 1970s. In 1983, she created  the association Contre jour, with her partner and lighting designer, Françoise Michel. In  1990 and until the end of 2008, she directed the Franche-Comté National Choreographic Center in Belfort, where she succeeded Joanne Leighton. In 1993, she created the work Projet de la matière, a milestone in the history of the new French dance. She  will be recognized as an important choreographer of French dance, and  will stage many shows and operas for various institutions, including the National Center for Contemporary Dance in Angers. She died of cancer on April 23, 2010 at the age of 69.

Amateur Dance and Repertory is a companion program to amateur practice beyond the dance class and the technical learning phase. Intended for groups of amateur dancers, it opens a space of sharing for those who wish to deepen a practice and a knowledge of the dance in relation to its history.

Laurent Barré
Head of Research and Choreographic Directories
Anne-Christine Waibel
Research Assistant and Choreographic Directories
+33 (0)1 41 83 43 96
danse-amateur-repertoire@cnd.fr

Source: CN D

More information: https://www.cnd.fr/en/page/323-danse-en-amateur-et-repertoire-grant-programme