Observation of others’ movements can trigger proprioceptive and kinaesthetic experiences. Removing explores this aspect of the perception of movement by working from movements defined by practical aims: hitting, throwing, avoiding, catching, etc. Unlike movements that are geometrically or mechanically defined, this is a vocabulary of gestures that the dancers share with the public. We rarely think of forming a line with our leg or of letting our arm drop, whereas most of our everyday movements are motivated by practical aims: reach a place, seize an object, avoid furniture, etc. The use of a common vocabulary is a means of accentuating empathy and kinaesthetic resonance. If we simply carry out these actions motivated by a practical aim, the experience of the movement will tend to be effaced by the recognition of the aim. To focus attention on the movement, I have removed the clues allowing it to be identified for sure. We thus distance ourselves from the literal carrying out of the action or mime. For example, one of the sequences is based on a series of blows, but the blows are given with unusual parts of the body on imaginary objects. We thus retain for the performer the definition of movement by the practical aim while removing for the observer what makes the identification of this aim possible. This is a means of capturing the motor characteristics linked to the action of hitting: dynamics, impact, speed, physical investment, affect, etc., while drawing attention to the actual movement and not to the achievement of the aim. We have also created sequences of movements consisting solely of preparations for other movements: gaining momentum before jumping, change in direction or a rotation. The dancer is continually projected towards movements that never take place. This continual ellipsis makes the dancer’s intention visible as it affects the gestures that precede the achievement of the aim. The dancer’s intention is in excess of the movement carried out, and this excess, this overflowing of intention onto action, transforms the movement and reveals how the dancer is projected towards their target aim. I also explored actions oriented towards the bodies of others by drawing inspiration from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. When we observe a combat, it is nearly always impossible to understand what each fighter is trying to do if we do not understand this martial art. If we do, we see that the movements do not evoke a fight but rather a sensual entwining or an extremely precise action on the other’s body, the aim of which remains obscure. We have reproduced as accurately as possible a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu combat, but unlike in actual combats, the two dancers collaborate in the carrying out of this sequence of movements. The main actions are catching, pushing, pulling, etc. The two dancers restrain each other mutually and it is this restraint that generates the movement. The composition is based on different levels of unison, on different ways in which sequences of movements can have shared parameters: the same geometric structure in space, the same action type, the same part of the body involved, etc. Resemblances can be extremely strong or, just the opposite, barely perceptible. They allow different types of counterpoint to be created (duo + solo, duo + solo + solo, duo + duo, etc.) and the spectator’s attention to be drawn without imposing any specific interpretation.

Born in Paris in 1987, Noé Soulier studied at the National Ballet School of Canada and PARTS in Brussels. He received a master degree in philosophy at La Sorbonne University (Paris IV) and took part in Palais de Tokyo’s residency program: Le Pavillon.
 

In 2010, he won the first prize of the competition Danse Élargie, organized by Le Théâtre de la Ville in Paris and Le Musée de la Danse with the trio « Little Perceptions » in which he started an ongoing research on ways of defining movement. With the solo « Movement on Movement » (2013), he dissociates gestures from speech to question how they collaborate to create meaning.
 

In 2014, he explored the syntax of ballet vocabulary with « Corps de ballet » for the CCN – Ballet de Lorraine. In « Movement Materials » (2014) and « Removing » (2015), he develops further the research initiated with Little perceptions on the perception and interpretation of movement.
 

In October 2016, he publishes « Actions, mouvements et gestes », a choreographic research that takes the form of a book, with the press of the Centre national de la danse.

In July 2020, he has taken over the direction of the Centre national de danse contemporaine d’Angers (CNDC).
 

Source: CNDC Angers

www.cndc.fr

Born in 1977, Fabien Plasson is a video director specialized in the field of performing arts (dance , music, etc).

During his studies at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (joined in 1995) Fabien discovered video art. He was trained by various video artists (Joel Bartoloméo Pascal Nottoli , Eric Duyckaerts , etc).
He first experimented with the creation of installations and cinematic objects.

From 2001 to 2011, he was in charge of Ginger & Fred video Bar’s programming at La Maison de la Danse in Lyon. He discovered the choreographic field and the importance of this medium in the dissemination, mediation and pedagogical approach to dance alongside Charles Picq, who was a brilliant video director and the director of the video department at that time.

Today, Fabien Plasson is the video director at La Maison de la Danse and in charge of the video section of Numeridanse.tv, an online international  video library, and continues his creative activities, making videos of concerts, performances and also creating video sets for live performances.

Sources: Maison de la Danse ; Fabien Plasson website

More information: fabione.fr