Sylvain Huc revisits the classic Alice in Wonderland with this duet for two dancers, inspired by the colourful light installations of visual artist James Turrell. Body, space, light, sound: the performance is born of the dialogue between them.

Wonderland does not tell a story but invites the young spectator to connect with himself, in his own sensations.

Source: programme of the CND

Since 2010 and his debut as a choreographer, Sylvain Huc has made the body an infinite playground. Dance appears there as if by accident. Because, above all, it is the body that is at stake, the rules that are imposed on it are like violations that it allows. The moment of performance is a ritual that is always renewed to throw together bodies that are both dishevelled and delicate, wise and wild.

After graduating in History and Art History, completing an essay in political anthropology on “Female brutality, savagery and sexuality in ancient Greece”, his encounter with contemporary dance was sudden. He then joined the CDC Toulouse training programme in 2003. A few important encounters (Mark Tompkins, Gisèle Vienne and Lloyd Newson amongst others) would later fuel his artistic desires. After a career as a performer, he took over as director of the Divergences company in 2014. His first production, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), aimed at a young audience, was performed 250 times in France and in Europe. It laid the foundations of a peculiar choreographic approach focusing on the body, its states, its consistency as it closely interacts with sound and light. Rotkäppchen, Kapput and then Boys don’t cry followed. In 2018, he choreographed Sujets for the Montpellier Dance Festival, a decisive quintet and contemplation of raw as well as aesthetic nudity. His solo, Lex, was performed in Roubaix at the Grand Bain Festival in 2019. These latest projects also marked his collaboration with artist Fabrice Planquette, dancer Mathilde Olivares and choreographer Jan Martens. In addition to aikido, which he practices assiduously, Sylvain Huc nourishes his creative process with diverse influences such as experimental music, visual art, cinema and literature.

Source: company website https://www.sylvainhuc.com

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.).