Pas de deux
1986 - Director : Picq, Charles
Choreographer(s) : Cunningham, Merce (United States) Piollet, Wilfride (France) Guizerix, Jean (France)
Present in collection(s): Maison de la danse , Saisons 1980 > 1989
Video producer : Maison de la Danse de Lyon
Integral video available at Maison de la danse de Lyon
Pas de deux
1986 - Director : Picq, Charles
Choreographer(s) : Cunningham, Merce (United States) Piollet, Wilfride (France) Guizerix, Jean (France)
Present in collection(s): Maison de la danse , Saisons 1980 > 1989
Video producer : Maison de la Danse de Lyon
Integral video available at Maison de la danse de Lyon
Pas de deux
Pas de deux, choreographed by Merce Cunningham, extracted from Un jour sur deux, with kind autorisation of Opéra de Paris.
Two danseurs étoiles at the pinnacle of their careers. An exemplary artistic journey among the most intelligent in the history of the Paris Opera: from Perrot to Andy de Groat via Bournonville, Petitpa, Balanchine and Cunningham. Wilfride Piollet and Jean Guizerix, passionate about today's dance without ignorance of the past or closure to the future, lead a triple career: performers of the great ballets of the repertoire, dancers of choice for contemporary creators, choreographers. Accompanied by their accomplice and friend Georges Pludermacher, internationally renowned pianist, they inaugurate in Lyon a program retracing the very history of choreography and paying homage to those they love.
Source: Program of Maison de la Danse de Lyon - 1986-87
Cunningham, Merce
Born in Centralia, Washington on April 16, 1919, Cunningham began his career as a modern dancer at the age of 20, dancing for six years with the Martha Graham Dance Company. He presented his first recital in 1944, and formed the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1953. The company was a living canvas for his experimentation and the creation of his unusual pieces.
Over his long career he choregraphed more than 150 pieces and more than 800 Events. Many dancers studied and worked with Cunningham before founding their own companies, among them Paul Taylor, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs and Karole Armitage ... He collaborated with many artists; his collaboration with John Cage had the most influence on his practice.
Together Cunningham and Cage proposed a series of radical innovations in dance. The most famous and controversial of these dealt with the relationship between dance and music, able to co-exist in the same space and time but needing to be conceived independently of each other.
Cunningham continued to experiment and innovate throughout his life, and he was one of the first to use new technologies in his own art form. He choreographed and taught almost until the day he died, July 26, 2009, and received many awards and accolades. Cunningham’s life and work have inspired the publication of four books and three important exhibitions; several of his pieces have been presented by other prestigious companies such as American Ballet Theatre, the Ballet de Lorraine, the New York City Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Rambert Dance Company in London and the White Oak Dance Project.
Source: CCN-Ballet de Lorraine
More information: www.mercecunningham.org
Piollet, Wilfride
Wilfride Piollet trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school and was given her first solo role by Maurice Béjart in “Noces” in 1965. She was made principal dancer in 1969.
Both at the Paris Opera and all over the world, she performed the great roles of classical and neoclassical repertoire. Jean Guizerix became her partner for dance and for life, and they performed the contemporary choreographies of Merce Cunningham, Lucinda Childs, Douglas Dunn, Andy de Groat, Félix Blaska, Dominique Bagouët and Daniel Larrieu, to name but a few. Piollet also danced the neoclassical works of George Balanchine, Serge Lifar, Roland Petit and Jerome Robbins, and threw herself into Belle Danse (historical dance) under the direction of Francine Lancelot. Since 1977 Piollet has choreographed her own works, which include “Le Prince de Bois”, “Huit danses hongroises”, “Renard”, “Lettera Amorosa”, “Dam'Oisel”, “Momerie”, “Ballet Figuré”, “Penthésilée” and “La Conjuration” among others. In 2003, the year in which she finished her performing career, she and Madeleine Lytton began working on the repertoire of Isadora Duncan. When Nadège Tardieu published her thesis on her method “Les Barres flexibles”, Piollet began working on a study of the image of gestures in dance (Les trois temps du corps), then with Francette Levieux (Giselle) and alongside Frédérique Liébaut on “Le corps-partition”, performed in Avignon in 2006.
Piollet choreographed new versions of the great repertoire ballets such as Coppélia, and continued to create new works in smaller form, such as “Le petit Atelier” and “Romance”. In 2005, she and Jean Guizerix choreographed “L'Amour médecin” and “Le Sicilien” for the Comédie-Française (French National Theatre), and “Anonymes” for the École nationale des Arts du cirque (ENAC – National Circus Arts School) in Rosny-sous-Bois (Seine Saint-Denis, near Paris).
From 1989 until June 2008, she taught at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP). In 1999, she published two works on the subject of her teaching: “Rendez-vous sur tes barres flexibles” and “Barres flexibles” (published by L'Oiseau de Feu).
In 1999, on the website lesbarresflexibles.net, Piollet made the series “Les gestes de Lilou” available online. It is aimed at dance teachers, primary school teachers, parents and educators who wish to teach their pupils or children some basic notions of dance.
In February 2009, Piollet took part in a performance in which both dancers and audience moved around the Chartreuse de Villeneuve lez Avignon - “La folie d'Igitur” – a work inspired by the work of French poet Stéphane Mallarmé and directed by Andy de Groat. Piollet also performed a tango with Jean Guizerix, reinterpreted by Andy de Groat and Martin Barré.
She passed away January 20, 2015.
Further information
Digital resource - Médiathèque du Centre national de la danse
Wilfride Piollet
Updating: January 2018
Guizerix, Jean
Born in Paris on October 27, 1945, Jean Guizerix began dancing late at the age of seventeen. He continued to practice dance in an amateur fashion and at the same time pursued higher studies at the Sorbonne. Having to make a choice between study and dance, he chose the latter out of passion and presented himself to the conservatory where he was refused. He then appeared at an audition at the Paris Opera in 1964. Two years later he was quadrille, then coryphée the following year. Appointed subject in 1968, he was already entrusted with solo roles, notably in Turangalila (R. Petit) in 1969 and Arcades (A.Labis). In 1971, he was named Principal Dancer and a year later was named Danseur étoile.
Apart from his work as a dancer at the Opera, Jean Guizerix is also a choreographer. He created his first solo O Tod, in 1969 for his wife Wilfride Piollet. In 1986, with his wife, he created a dance company with a large repertoire including choreographers from various influences. He left the Opera in 1990, and for the occasion had carte blanche for the organization of this evening.
From 1990 to 1998, he was a professor at the CNSMDP then he became ballet master at the Paris Opera from 1998 to 2000. He was then appointed advisor for dance to the Ministry of National Education until 2002. In 2003, he is for a few months acting artistic director of the Ballets du Nord. Since 1997, he has been a teacher at the National Circus Arts Center. He gave lessons with his wife Wilfride for their association "Clef de sol".
He is also the author of several books, he wrote in particular Parallèle in 1986, le Moulin de Jerry, Sens et Tonka edition, published in 2003 and Libretto de Giselle by Théophile Gautier at L'une et l'autre editions in 2012.
Source: theatre-contemporain.net
Picq, Charles
Author, filmmaker and video artist Charles Picq (1952-2012) 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.
- He launched the series “scènes d'écran” for television and online. He undertook the video library's digital conversion and created Numeridanse.
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 de Lyon
Pas de deux
Choreography : Merce Cunningham
Interpretation : Jean Guizerix, Wilfried Piollet
Production / Coproduction of the video work : Maison de la Danse de Lyon - Charles Picq, 1986
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