Choreography Andy De Groat

“A significant part of this ballet is composed using the basic steps of the traditional repertoire, grouped alphabetically. Removed from their usual context of preparation/execution and following a completely abstract order, the steps take on a special rhythm. Nevertheless they preserve their original forms.  […]

The ballet “La petite mort” is built on a continuity of "correct” basic elements transformed gradually in space, form and time, integrated into personal nuances. […]  With this choreography, I continue my research in the development of the various aspects of classical dance – how the sequences can be transformed and used by dancers in a contemporary way.”

source : Andy De Groat, file from the Red Notes Company (1984)

Credits

extract from the video of the piece presented on 25-26-27 July 1984 at the Chartreuse in Villeneuve-lez-Avignon
choreography Andrew De Groat
performers Agnès David, Michael O'Rourke, Pierre Saison, Viviane Serry
video Charles Picq
producers Ministère de la culture, compagnie Red Notes, « A » Vidéo

Updated: January 2013

Andy de Groat was born in 1947 in the United States into a family of Dutch, Italian, French, German and English origins. Whilst studying at the New York School of Fine Art in 1967, he met the director Robert Wilson. He joined his troupe as a dancer, then as a choreographer for all the productions from Deafman Glance in 1971, A Letter for Queen Victoria in 1974 to Einstein on the Beach in 1976, created for the Avignon Festival.
In 1981, he received a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation in New York for his choreographic research.
He created new works in succession for red notes, including several for Jean Guizerix, Wilfride Piollet, Jean-Christophe Paré, the Choreographic Research Group of the Opera of Paris (GRCOP), the Scala in Milan, Ris et Danceries, the Ballet du Nord (Roubaix) and Wah Loo Tin Tin Co, a Montauban-based company of young performers.

Today, his work totals over sixty creations that have been presented in around twenty countries and periodically goes back to questioning the repertoire and the heritage of dance.

His company has worked regularly on lyrical productions since 1988, in particular on "The Magic Flute" (Mozart), with Robert Wilson at the Opera Bastille, Paris, "The Rake's Progress" (Stravinsky), with Alfredo Arias for the Aix-en-Provence Festival of Lyric Art and at the Operas of Lyon, Gênes and Montpellier, "Aida" (Verdi) and Klaus Michael Grüber at the Amsterdam Opera.

Source : website of the Centre national de la danse (CND, Pantin)

Author, filmmaker and video artist Charles Picq entered working life in the 70s through theatre and photography. A- fter resuming his studies (Maîtrise de Linguistique - Lyon ii, Maîtrise des sciences et Techniques de la Communication - grenoble iii), he then focused on video, first in the field of fine arts at the espace Lyonnais d'art Contemporain (eLaC) and with the group « Frigo », and then in dance.
 On creation of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon in 1980, he was asked to undertake a video documentation project that he has continued ever since. During the ‘80s, a decade marked in France by the explosion of contemporary dance and the development of video, he met numerous artists such as andy Degroat, Dominique Bagouet, Carolyn Carlson, régine Chopinot, susanne Linke, Joëlle Bouvier and regis Obadia, Michel Kelemenis. He worked in the creative field with installations and on-stage video, as well as in television with recorded shows, entertainment and documentaries.

His work with Dominique Bagouet (80-90) was a unique encounter. He documents his creativity, assisting with Le Crawl de Lucien and co-directing with his films Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux and 10 anges. in the 90s he became director of video development for the Maison de la Danse and worked, with the support of guy Darmet and his team, in the growing space of theatre video through several initiatives:
     - He founded a video library of dance films with free public access. This was a first for France. Continuing the video documentation of theatre performances, he organised their management and storage.
     - He promoted the creation of a video-bar and projection room, both dedicated to welcoming school pupils.
     - He started «présentations de saisons» in pictures.
     - He oversaw the DVD publication of Le tour du monde en 80 danses, a pocket video library produced by the Maison de la Danse for the educational sector.

More recently, he launched the series “scènes d'écran” for television and online. He undertook the video library's digital conversion and created the website numeridanse.tv, an international video library for dance online.

His main documentaries are: enchaînement, Planète Bagouet, Montpellier le saut de l'ange, Carolyn Carlson, a woman of many faces, grand ecart, Mama africa, C'est pas facile, Lyon, le pas de deux d'une ville, Le Défilé, Un rêve de cirque.

He has also produced theatre films: Song, Vu d'ici (Carolyn Carlson), Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux, 10 anges, Necesito and So schnell, (Dominique Bagouet), Im bade wannen, Flut and Wandelung (Susanne Linke), Le Cabaret Latin (Karine Saporta), La danse du temps (Régine Chopinot), Nuit Blanche (Abou Lagraa), Le Témoin (Claude Brumachon), Corps est graphique (Käfig), Seule et WMD (Françoise et Dominique Dupuy), La Veillée des abysses (James Thiérrée), Agwa (Mourad Merzouki), Fuenteovejuna (Antonio Gades), Blue Lady revistied (Carolyn Carlson).

Source : Maison de la Danse