Born out of research on the French musical forms of the 17th and 18thcenturies, Abaca is inspired by the rules of the rondeau – and its alternation of couplets and choruses which recalls the songs of our childhood – to compose a subtle and joyful ode to the lightness of being. A group of four performers (one woman and three men) explores a series of choreographic humors. Between the different sequences, a door is moved on stage all along the show and it opens on different imaginary landscapes. Music, light and the cold or warm colors of the costumes contribute to making each situation a fecund space where dance, enriched by the complicity between the four performers, keeps reinventing itself. Although it follows a defined structure, the piece awakens a desire to play in the pure spirit of entertainment that was central to the baroque aesthetics. It is a contemporary version of the “fêtes galantes” after which Béatrice Massin’s company was named.

Source: programme of the CND

After dancing for several contemporary companies, including that of Susan Buirge, Béatrice Massin was engaged by Ris et Danceries in 1983, where for the next ten years she mixed performing with repertoire research, assistantship and choreography. She choreographed “Water Music” by Handel at the Metz Arsenal (1990), “Bastien et Bastienne” (1991), Mozart's “Les Petits Riens” (1991) for the Tourcoing opera workshop and also devised the choreography for “Medée”, set to music by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1983).

In late 1993, Béatrice Massin founded her own company, Fêtes Galantes, for whom she devises one show each year. These are reconstructions of pieces from the baroque repertoire, but, above all, creations using the choreographic vocabulary of the seventeenth century: "Charpentier des ténèbres”, “Carte du tender, “Pipinone”, “Trio triptyque” and most recently, “Que ma joie demeure”. From December 1999 to July 2000, Béatrice Massin devised and directed the choreography for Gérard Corbiau's film “Le roi danse”. In September 2001, Béatrice Massin was invited by the Ballet de Lorraine to devise three baroque choreographies, which include "Noir, du côté de Callot” inspired by Callot's etchings.

Alongside her research and choreographic work, she presents educational programmes at Opéra Bastille, the Cité de la Musique and CND (National Dance Centre) in the form of danced lecture-recitals, courses and workshops. She offers the opportunity to discover baroque court dance as well as reconstructions of pieces from the baroque repertoire.

Source : Website of the Compagnie Fetes galantes

Further information : Company Website

Digital Resource by the Médiathèque du Centre national de la danse

http://mediatheque.cnd.fr/spip.php?page=mediatheque-numerique-ressource&id=PHO00003922

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).