L'après-midi d'un foehn - Version 1
« Afternoon of a Foehn » Version 1
What is the life expectancy of a plastic
bag ? From crude oil polyethylene
to the moment it is thrown away? For how long is it actually in use ?
Not long at all, compared to the length of time
it will then stray across the planet, blown and buffeted by the wind.
This is where its real life begins ; its autonomous life. Little anonymous plastic bag amongst the world’s countless little plastic bags, on its way to a rotproof eternity.
Let’s hope there’s a strong wind to help it
overcome any obstacles, to carry it across oceans and mountains, to encounter
new possibilities and to try out different lives.
What if we humans, so firmly anchored to the
ground, what if we too could escape the pull of gravity and fly with the wind,
free at last, carried along by the arbitrary waltz of the air ?
What if we were unconciously feeding our thirst
for the discovery of unknown territories, of fighting uncertain battles to make
each one of our members part of us, autonomous and uncontrollable.
Upright or upside down, free up those hands, be
the object of all motion and movement. Just a sound and the air’s caress.
This
performance piece uses a simple turbine in order to create a vortex. The little
plastic bag characters evolve in the air space, responding to the movement of
the air which is in turn controlled by the protagonist.
Phia Ménard, août 2010
In the Beginning …
This
performance piece was originally commissioned by the Natural History Museum of
Nantes for the 2008 science fair, « Fête des Sciences ». The theme
that year was « movement » and one of the criteria was that this
piece had to be presented within the walls of the museum, a space which rarely
houses live performances.
Sitting
alone in the museum for nights on end, Phia Ménard became fascinated by the
Evolution of Species gallery. She was struck by the silence and stillness of
all those wild animals assembled in the same space. Aware of how it would be
impossible in reality to be in the presence of all those living animals, she
decided to work on the notion of human beings as creators, and also as
destroyers.
As
part of her artistic project « I.C.E. » (« Injonglabilité
Complémentaire des Elements » - « Complementary Unjugglability of the
Elements ») she began experimenting with air and wind. She had the idea of
using ventilators to blow air onto the stuffed animals, fanning their fur, as
if breathing life back into them.
The next step was the
addition of an everyday object ; an object void of humanity and also a
major source of pollution when not recycled properly : a plastic bag.
Transforming a simple plastic bag into a charming, graceful little character
affirms the intervention of humans. A human being creates the puppet and then
also takes its life away.
The
object, manipulated by the flow of air, swirls and twirls, dancing to Claude
Debussy’s most famous work, the timeless « Afternoon of a Faun »,
itself inspired by Mallarmé’s poem of the same name.
In this
project, the « foehn » refers to the notorious transalpine winds
which, according to a study by the University of Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians -
Universität München), can lead to a rise in murders and suicides.
CAST AND CREATION TEAM
Artistic
director : Phia MENARD
Assisted by: Jean-Luc
BEAUJAULT
Performed by : Phia MENARD, alternately
with : Jean-Louis OUVRARD
Sound track composition : Ivan ROUSSEL, using
Claude Débussy’s « Afternoon of a Faun »
Stage manager :
Pierre BLANCHET
Production
assistant : Honorine MEUNIER
Administration,
production : Claire MASSONNET
La Compagnie Non
Nova is subsidised by a number of bodies : by the Ministry of Culture and
Communication / DRAC des Pays de la
Loire, le Conseil Régional des Pays de la Loire (Regional Council for
the Pays de la Loire),
le Conseil Général de Loire-Atlantique (General Council for the region
Loire-Atlantique) and the City of Nantes. It is also subsidised by the Institut
Français (promoting artistic and culturel exchanges with other countries).
Warm thanks to Pierre
OREFICE, to the teachers and pupils of Gaston Serpette School in Nantes (the
nursery classes and the youngest class in the primary section 2008/2009), to
Pierre WATELET and Mathilde CARTON from the Natural History Museum of Nantes
and to Pascal LEROUX from Collectif la Valise in Nantes.
Length : 25 minutes
Suitable for ages 5+
A performance without words, featuring the
manipulation of objects and elements.
Project context :
This project is linked to « Afternoon of a
Foehn » and « VORTEX », two performance pieces due to be
premiered on the 10th of October 2011 at the National Dramatic Centre of Caen (La Comédie de Caen) and which
will then tour throughout France during the 2011-2012 season. « Afternoon
of a Foehn Version 1 » is designed to be presented alongside these two
projects when they are performed in a given « département» (county) of
France ; for example, in the context of a small-scale local tour in little
venues which don’t have the technical conditions necessary for the two bigger
shows.
Performance conditions : Contact
the company
Compagnie Non Nova
Compagnie Non Nova was created in
1998 by Philippe Ménard. The company began its first creative research with the
shows « Non nova, sed nove » (« Not new things, but in a new
way ») using improvisation to work with the musician Guillaume HAZEBROUCK,
and with « Brank Quartet » alongside the Olivier Thémines Trio. The
creation « Le Grain » (« The Grain ») in 1998 was the first
step in what was to become a long-term study of the audience’s perception of
juggling. « Le Grain », a burlesque piece based on the theme of
« error », toured in France, Italy, Brazil, Finland, Slovakia, Mexico
and Kosova.
In 2001, « Ascenseur,
fantasmagorie pour éléver les gens et les fardeaux » (“Elevator,
Phantasmagoria for lifting people and loads”) marked a new beginning for the
growing company : a team of 10 people worked on the creation of this solo
piece which went on to be performed 92 times in France and abroad, notably on tour in Mexico, the Middle-East,
Italy, Finland, Indonesia, Greece, Argentina, Uruguay, Chili, Ecuador, Brazil,
West Africa, East Africa and Australia (2007).
In 2002, the company created « Le Grand Bazar »
(« The Big Bazaar »), a cabaret for 12 performing artists, jugglers,
acrobats and musicians, created for one single performance as part of the
festival « Temps Fort autour des Arts du Cirque » at the Capellia Cultural
Centre in La Chapelle Sur
Erdre. The festival « Jonglissimo » and the Cultural Centre of St
Exupery in Reims gave the company a residency for the creation of their first
« laboratory » involving the audience, from which emmerged the
creation of a new show the following spring : «Fresque et Sketches 1er
round » («Fresco and Sketches, 1st round ») with Frank Ténot.
The
year 2003 saw the final version of « Zapptime, rêve éveillé d’un
zappeur » (« Zapptime, daydream of a channel-hopper »), a series
of sketches performed as a duet by Philippe Ménard and Frank Tenot, and
directed by Hélène Ninerola. This year was also the beginning of a new
adventure : la
Compagnie Non Nova was invited to become an artistic
associate company for three years at the “scène nationale” (national theatre)
Le Carré in Chateau-Gontier (53), France. « Zapptime, rêve éveillé d’un
zappeur » was created and premiered at Le Carré on the 7th and 8th of
November 2003, then presented at La
Villette in Paris as part of the festival « Terre de
Cirques » (« Earth Circus ») in June 2004. On the 1st of
December 2004, the premiere of « Jongleur pas confondre »
(« Juggler, don’t confuse ») was performed in Château-Gontier ;
a show-conference on the theme of juggling, orchestrated by Philippe Ménard and
Jean-Michel Guy (researcher for the Department of Studies and Future Trends for
the French Ministry of Culture and Communication), with the collaboration of
Paola Rizzi as director.
Because challenges are made to be
met and also because Philippe Ménard is a playful soul, after « Zapptime, rêve éveillé
d’un zappeur » the company created the
follow-up piece « Zapptime, Remix » in 2003, at Lieu
Unique, the national theatre in Nantes, before touring the show throughout
Hungary and Bulgaria. Numerous projects saw the light of day in 2005, such as
« Fresques et Sketches second round » (« Fresco and Sketches,
second round »), the second part of a project made up of sketches and
featuring a juggler, a dancer and a musician.
Next came « Ursulines Dance Floor » : a
one-off extravanganza of exuberant performance artists, jugglers, DJ’s and
dancers, set in a nightclub unlike any other in Château-Gontier’s Ursulines
Theatre. And then there was « Jules for ever », a piece created in
Nantes in August 2005 as part of the commemoration of the centenary of the
death of Jules Verne. The piece was commissioned by Nantes City Council and
featured performing artists from the company Vent d’Autan, the musicians from
the sextet « Frasques » and Jérôme Thomas.
In 2006, Non Nova continued touring in France and abroad and
began rehearsing « Doggy bag », which premiered in late 2007. The
party-event « Ursulines Mushroom Power », performed on the 16th of
June 2006 in
Château-Gontier’s Ursulines Theatre, marked the end of a three year
collaboration with Le Carré, Château-Gontier’s national theatre. In 2006, the
company participated for the first time in the Avignon Festival with
« Zapptime#remix ». In March 2007 Non Nova got back together with the
musicians from the sextet Frasques for the show « Touch it », which
was created and performed at the local theatre in Rèze in co-production with
l’Arc de Rèze. In November 2007 « Doggy bag », a multidisciplinary
piece, somewhere between choreography and the manipulation of diverse objects
(tyres, cardboard boxes, plastic bags…) was presented at the « Quai »
in Angers and at the « Brèche » in Cherbourg.
In 2008, the company created the piece « P.P.P. »,
a first exploration into the element « ice » and based on the theme
of identity. This piece was also the beginning
of a project entitled « ICE », standing for
« Injonglabilité Complémentaire des Eléments » (« Complementary
Unjugglability of the Elements ») ; a project made up of several
parts and which will continue over the next few years. “L’après-midi d’un
foehn” (“Afternoon of a Foehn”), a storytelling-performance piece featuring
ventilators and plastic bags, was created in November 2008 at the Natural
History Museum in Nantes as part of their Science Festival and is also part of
the project « ICE ».
In 2009, the company continued its research into matter and
transformation. « P.P.P » was performed in France, Belgium,
Argentina, Mexico and Brazil.
In 2010 « P.P.P »
continued to tour throughout France and abroad : Colombia, Brazil,
Germany, Finland, Belgium, Denmark … and in July 2010, la Compagnie Non Nova
created and presented a new performance piece at the Avignon Festival as
part of the « Sujets à vif » (« Live Subjects ») program :
« Black Monodie » (« Black Monody »), based on the theme of femininity and the
disappearance of myths, used ice as a basis for the work, and featured
Phia MENARD and Anne-James CHATON.
The Non Nova Company is based in Nantes. It is subsidised by
a number of bodies : the government - Préfecture de la region Pays de la Loire (regional direction of
cultural affairs for the Pays de la
Loire), le Conseil Régional des Pays de la Loire, (Regional Council for
the Pays de la Loire),
le Conseil Général de Loire-Atlantique (General Council for the region
Loire-Atlantique), and by the city of Nantes. The company is also subsidised by
Culturesfrance for its tours abroad.
Phia Ménard
It was discovering Jérôme Thomas’ show “Extraballe” in 1991
that nurtured in Philippe Ménard the deep desire to study the performing arts
and in particular, the art of juggling. He trained in modern dance, mime and
acting, as well as in juggling. In 1994 he studied juggling techniques and
theatrical composition with Jérôme Thomas, and went on to join the company, performing
in “Hic Hoc”. It was during his globetrotting tours with this company that his
desire to write for the stage grew and he defined his personal vision of
contemporary art forms. As artist and improviser, he created numerous shows for
the company up until 2003: “Le Socle” (The Pedestal), “Le Banquet”, “Hioc”, “4,
Qu’on en finisse une bonne fois pour toutes…(“4, Let’s finish things once and
for all…”)
In 1997, alongside his work with the company, he took more
dance lessons and danced in two short pieces choreographed by Hervé Diasnas and
Valérie Lamielle. He founded the company Non Nova in 1998. It was with his show
“Ascenceur, fantasmagorie pour élever les gens et les fardeaux“ (“Elevator,
Phantasmagoria for elevating people and burdens….”), created in 2001and
featuring a juggler (himself) and a video installation, that he first gained
recognition and critical acclaim as a creator.
Acclaimed
for his original, personal way of working, he was invited to become an artistic
associate for three years at the “scène nationale” (national theatre) Le Carré
in Chateau-Gontier (53), France. There he developed his work, downplaying
juggling as a visual spectacle in favour of a new relationship with his
audience.
Numerous
creations and events sprang from his research :
"Zapptime, rêve éveillé d'un zappeur" (“Zapptime,
daydream of a channel-hopper”) , the conference piece "Jongleur pas
confondre" (“Juggler, don’t confuse”) with the sociologist Jean Michel
Guy, "Fresque et sketches 2nd round", and the off-the-road pieces :
"Est-il vraiment sérieux de jongler ?" (“Is it really serious to
juggle?”), "Ursulines Dance Floor" and "Ursulines Mushroom
Power". In 2005 and 2007, he developed his work around the notion of
“unjugglability” and created two pieces: " Zapptime#remix, » and « Doggy
Bag » and two cabaret forms, « Jules for Ever » and « Touch it » with the
sextet Frasques.
It was in 2008 that Phia Ménard revealed his new identity
with his decision to change sex. Her artistic career took a new direction with
the project I.C.E. - “Injonglabilité Complémentaire des Elements”
(“Complementary Unjugglability of the Elements”). She created the show “P.P.P”
at the performing arts centre, Nouvelle Subsistances, in Lyon, having worked on
numerous residencies which took her from the Jules Verne Circus in Amiens to
Wits Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa.
During the 2009/2010 season, she toured the show “P.P.P”
throughout Europe and South America. She also collaborated on the project
“Coyote Pizza” with the collective La
Valise, creating the
performance piece “Iceman”. Invited by Avignon Festival to perform there in
July 2010 she created the piece “Black Monodie” with the poet Anne-James
Chaton.
The 2011 Season will see in the
creation of the second part of the I.C.E. project : “L’après-midi d’un foehn*”
(“Afternoon of a Foehn”).
Jean-Louis Ouvrard
A professional actor since 1983, Jean-Louis
Ouvrard has also trained in contemporary dance, clown, mask, mime, voice
techniques, gestual theatre and object theatre.
In 1991 he co-founded Théâtre ZOU and performed
in the shows : « Un coup de pied dans les étoiles » (A Kick In
the Stars), "Jean-François la
Malice" (Jean-François the Wickedness) (1993), and
"669" (1995). He then directed "Poème élastique" (Elastic
Poem) (1998) and "AXIS" (2000).
He created "Les Dimezelles" for the company Arcalande,
"Racontines à croquer" (Little Bites of Tales ) (1998) and
"T'aime Pousse" (2003) for
Théâtre du Pré en bulles, and "Tako'solo" for the
percussionnist Thierry Ouvrard. He also participated in the the creation of the
company "Chat perplexe" (Perplexed Cat).
From 1995 to 2010, he collaborated regularly with La Compagnie Garon
Trousseboeuf, as a puppeteer. He performed in
"Sarah et les souris" (Sarah and the Mice) (1994), "Le
bal des brigadiers » (The Brigadiers’ Ball) (1999), "La petite fille
et le corbeau" (The Little Girl and the Crow) (2000), "La nuit des
temps au bord d'une forêt profonde" (The Mists of Time on the Edge of a
Deep Forest » (2002), "Diable" (Devil) (2004), "…à la bougie."
(… by Candlelight) (2006), "Mergorette" (2007) et "Le castelet
de Josette / hamlet en sac" (Josette’s Puppet Theatre /Hamlet-in-a-Bag)
(2009).
In 2009, he re-worked the show "La mer en pointillés..." (The Dotted
Sea) with Le Bouffou Théâtre.
In 2010, he directed the musical
« OZO » for the percussionnist Thierry Ouvrard.
In 2011, he directed « L’enfant qui… »
(The Child Who…) by Jorn Riel, a piece of object theatre for l’Atelier de la Pierre Blanche and La Compagnie Amarande.
He is currently working as a puppeteer on the
show « Etre peut-être » (To Be
Maybe) for November 2011 and is also getting ready for the revival of
« Afternoon of a Foehn » with La Compagnie Non Nova
in December 2011.
He is also a choreographer and costume designer.
