malek sebaï - caroline bo
TRANSCRIPT
MalekSebaï
Jetelediraiparécrit
PremieredonFebruary24th2011FestivalJournéesDanseContemporaineCarthageTunisia
SupportedbytheCityofMarseille,theBouches‐du‐Rhônecouncil,theTunisianMinisteryofCulture,theFrenchCulturalInstituteinTunis
How has time modeled those two women, who, taking the opportunity of this«chobioreography», lookback on their life andquestion thenature of their identitywithtenderness,self‐derisonormelancholy?
CONCEPTOFTHEPROJECT
Jetelediraiparécritcomesfromanencounter,anencounterbetweenMalekSebaïandmyselfwithintheElisaMonteDanceCompany.Tenyearsagowewerebothleadingthesamelifeofanexpatriatedancer inNewYork.Today,eachoneofus isback inherhomeland,developingapedagogicalandcreativecareerinhernativecountry.
Thesimilarityofourcareeropposedtothediversityofourpersonalpathsintriguedus,broughtuscloser,shookus.Wehavedecidedtomakeaduetofit.Jetelediraiparécrittellsaboutthisfacetoface,womantowoman,bathedinsincerityandfriendship.
OFTHEMEANDERSOFANINTERCULTURALPRODUCTION
More than tenyearsago,weuse to lead the same lifeofanexpatriatedancer inNewYork.Within the samedance company, our stories join. As an alter ego, I arrived in the companywhenMalek leftandIovertookallherroles intherepertory.WhenInternet linksusagain,asea lies between us. We could have been satisfied with remaining «internet friends».Nevertheless, something fascinates us: our common experience in the Elisa Monte DanceCompany,ourpassionforthehumanbeinganddanceasourtooltoliveandinvestigate.Theidea of a dance duet quickly springs out. Almost as fast, the impossibility of communicatingoverseasarouses.YoutubebeingforbiddenbycensorshipinTunisiatheexchangeofvideosiscomplicated, callingeachotherand travellingoverseas is costly and timeconsuming. It isbypostalmailthatourstorywillbereborn.Allwehavetosaytoeachotherweshallwriteit(thelitteraltranslationforJetelediraiparécritis«Ishallwriteittoyou»).
Finally comes the time to meet again. Traces of the time that has passed, our faces havematured,ourhairtoo,ourbodiesareawitnessofourownpaths.Andbluntlythequestionofidentitysetsitselfinthemiddleofourfriendship.Reflectionofmyowncultureinfrontofhers,reflectionofmyown lifeasawoman in frontofhers, reflectionofmychoicesasanartist infrontofhers...Neverthelessinthedancestudio,theosmosishasremained:samewarmup,arelationtomovementwhosesimilaritystunsus.
Thismirrorgameintimatelyquestionsourownidentity.Ourfriendshipcomesbackwithitsownrhythm of full and empty moments. Our re‐encounter faces us with an assessment we arereluctant tomake, impatient thoughaswemayseemtodrawthe figureofour image in thecontrastsofourbodies,ourcultures,ourlives....
Thisduetisthuskneadedwithexpectations,longinganddoubts.Aduetbetweenemotionandcontemplation.Playingwiththenatureofourdifferencesandsimilaritieshasbroughtusuponthemiraculousmysteryof creatinga show.This iswhy Je te lediraiparécritdoesnotquiteunroll like a normal performance. Both interprets digressing between exaltation and lack ofinspiration; the duet digressing between friendship and drawbacks; the audience is tossedbetweentheeleganceofawellmasteredperformanceandthesincerityofdoubtingmoments.
The first rehearsalsof Je te ledirai par écrit tookplace in January2010 inCarthageand thecreativeprocessunrolledallthrough2010betweenaTunisiastillunderBenAliandFrance.ThePremièrehadbeenfixedwithMad’Artartisticdirector,MrsRajaBenamar,duringtheFestivalLesJournéesdelaDanseContemporaineinFebruary2011.TheTunisianrevolutionthatburstoutinJanuary2011threatenedthefestivalanditisonlythankstoMrsBenamar’sperseverancethat it wasmaintained. Our Première could take place as scheduled on February 24th, in aTunisiastill inturmoil.WeherebydesiretopayhomagetoMrsBenamarforhavinggivenourduetachancetobecreatedundersuchexceptionalconditions.
CAROLINEBO
CarolineBowasborninMarseille.ShegraduatesfromtheConservatoireNationaldeRégiondePariswiththegoldmedalatage17andhonesherballettechniquethefollowingyearinMarikaBesobrasovaDanceAcademyinMonaco.
She starts her dancer’s career in the Concordanse Ballet, Paris (chor: Donald Byrd,MaurizioWainrott,LynnT.Corbett...)andthentheBalletActuel(chor:NathalieBard).
In 1997, Caroline Bo enters the Elisa Monte Dance Company in New York. During theinternationaltourswiththecompany,shestartsteachingbothBalletandcontemporarydance.In2001,shecertifiesinthePilatesMatwork.September11triggersherreturntoEurope.ShecollaboratesinLisbonwithGulbenkiansoloistsCésarMonizandBenvindoFonsecaandMiamiBalletprincipalPauloManso.SheteachesinprofessionalcompaniesandintheDanceSuperiorUniversity of Lisbon. In 2005, Caroline Bo is both dancer and assistant for Ismaël Ivo in theBiennalediVenezia. In June2006, she is soloist andassistant for ElisaMonte in thePergineFestival,Italy.Since2007,shehasdancedforMarie‐LaureAgrapartandStefanieBattenBlandinParisandVanessaHuber‐ChristenandFilippoArmatiinBerlin.
Dedicating herself evermore to creation, she has founded the Compagnie Caroline Bo inMarseille, October 2007. Her creation 2009Water inmy solo was coproduced by the BalletNational de Marseille. Her choreographical work has been supported by the followingstructures: Ballet National de Marseille, Centre National de la Danse de Pantin, StudioKelemenis,Micadanses Paris, Tanzfabrik andDock11 Berlin, the FrenchMinistery of Culture,theCityofMarseilleandtheBouches‐du‐Rhônecouncil.
Caroline Bo also regularly teaches contemporary training in dance centers and professionalcompanies:RandomDance,BalletPreljocaj,CentreNationaldelaDanse,Micadanses,StudioHarmonic,IALSandDuncan3.0inRome,Marameo,TanzfabrikandDock11inBerlin.
MALEKSEBAI
Malek Sebai starts dancing in 1978 in the Paris Opera school. She pursues her dance studies in theConservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris until 1984 and then in RosellaHightower'sDanceSchoolinCannes.As a professional dancer, shehasworked in the Stanislawski Theater inMoscow, theAterballetto inReggioEmilia,theMünchnerStaatsOper(Munich),theBalletduNord(France)andElisaMonteDanceCompany(NewYork).
All throughher years spent abroad,Malekhasbeen regularly coming toTunisia to takepart in localcreations.
In 1998, she definitely comes back to her homeland and dedicates herself to teaching. She alsocollaborates to theatrical and choreographicalworks, such as Taoufik Jebali's "Othello". In 1999, shecreates the piece "Un tableau de 19" for the first Arabian Mediterranean Contemporary DancePlatforms.In2000,shecollaborateswithCanadianchoreographerLucDunberrytoaproductionoftheSchaubuhne(Berlin), theTunisianGoethe InstituteandTunisianNationalTheater. In2004,withintheDAMA(DanceinArabianMediterreanian)shecollaborateswithgraphicartistPatriciaTriki,theprojectissupportedby"Culture2000"andtheDBMnet(DanceintheMediterraneanBelt)andtoursinmanyArabian and European festivals. In 2006, she collaborates with Sondos Belhassen for thechoreographical installation"Zangana"and"Femmes,guerreetcréation".WithbothPatriciaTrikiandSondos Belhassen, she creates "b‐ticino II", presented in the 42nd International Carthage Festival(production Institut Français de Coopération, Young Arab Theater Fund). In 2007, Malek starts thecollective"ManelwuSaoussen",inspiredbythosetwolegendaryTunisiandancers,ZinaandAziza.ThisduetwasprogrammedinCentreNationaldelaDanseParisinMarch2011andinLaFermeduBuissoninNovember2011.
CREATIVEPROCESSMostoftheinitialworkhasbeendonewriting:puttingintowordswhatwefeelinrelationtoourmemoriesintheElisaMonteDanceCompany,ouridentityasawoman,asanartistandtoournationalidentity.
Thencamethetimeofthefirstencounteraftertenyearslivingfaraway.Timeofthepresent,ofthealive,oftheactiveresearch.Thestudioistheplaceforphysicalexchangebetweenourtwobodies,containersofourtechniqueasadancer,ourexperienceasawoman,ourheritageas a Tunisian or a French. From these anchors and contrasts that mark our paths we haveelaboratedapatchworkofemotionsthatwewantedtoinvestigate:
Ourpast
EvokingouryearsintheElisaMonteDanceCompanyinNYweobservedwhatemotionsweredirectly linked to those memories: the emotion of being the interpret of such a talentedchoreographer, the vitality of the repertory that makes the body exult, but also in a moretroubled field the complexity of Human relations, especially within a company where theintimacyintheworkandtourscreatesarareproximitybetweenitsmembers.Ourcommitmentthere was as sentimental as professional. This formed the first base of develoment of ourphysicalvocabulary.
Thesecondbaseforourinspirationliesinourre‐encounter.Whatemotiondothetracesofthetime that has passed in the other’s body raisein each other ? As a reaction, how does thisemotionmakeusperceivethetraceithasleftinourownbody?
Identity
In the duet, we keep a moment of recoil onto ourselves. Two soli where each interpretexpresseswhat she feels tobe inherdeepest self: thewoman, thedancer, thecreator, themother,theindependantwoamn,thefriend...
MUSIC
Evoking our encounter in New York brings us back to the creation of Tears Rolling,choreographedbyElisaMonteasIwasjustenteringthecompanyandasMalekwasabouttoleave.Itisduringthecreationofthistriothatourfriendshipbloomed.Weheldthesameroleinthe piece, the choreographer would create alternatively on one or the other. Betweenbenevolenceandrivality,webothweresearchingforourownpositioninthecompany.
ForJetelediraiparécrit,wehavenaturallycomebacktoArvoPart’sscorethatElisahadused.Thisscore,entitledFratres,willremainforusthecontainerofallthesensationsandemotionswehave feltat this timeofour lives. In Je te lediraiparécrit,wechosetokeeptheoriginalscoreforthefinalduet.ThefirsttwosoliaretoasoundmixofFratresbyTunisianmusicianZeinAbdelkafi.
VIDEO
The encounter within the Elisa Monte Dance being the starting point of our duet, it wasimportantforustoevokeherchoreography,whichremainsforustheworkofageniouslady.Also,thearchivevideos,thatbothMalekandIown,showpieceswhereweholdthesameroleandrevealastrikingressemblancethathassincethenvanished.
These video images have been revisited by Ghazi Frini, specialized in interactive video. Hiswork, that renders the shapes more abstract, intertwines dimensions, plays with time andspace,isprojectedinshortinterludes,evokingthepastormixingupwiththepresentofthethetwo interprets on stage. A projection of the textswe have exchanged as preliminary to thecreationisalsoexhibitedasanintroductiontothefinalduet.
OURCALENDAR
Rehearsal
May10to222010 Mad’ArtCarthage June28toJuly1st2010 PavillonNoir/BalletPreljocaj–AixenProvenceNov29toDec162010 Mad’Art–Carthage
Showings
May222010 Mad’Art‐Carthage July22010 FrichedelaBelledeMai–MarseilleObjectifDanseDec162010 Mad’Art‐Carthage
Première
Feb242011 Festival des Journées Danse de Carthage inMad’Art – CarthageTunisia
OURPARTNERS
CityofMarseille2011
Bouches‐du‐RhôneCouncil2010.
InstitutFrançaisdeCoopérationdeTunis2010
TunisianMinistryCulture2010
ThéâtreMad’Art,CentreCultureldeCarthage
Evi’danse(DirNadiaTabib)LaMarsaTunisia
PavillonNoir/BalletPreljocajPrêtStudio2010
MarseilleObjectifDanse(FrichedelaBelledeMai)2010
SOLICITEDPARTNERS
InspiteoftheTunisianeventsofbeginning2011,ourworkcouldcometoanendandtoourjoy,thePremièrecouldtakeplaceintheFestivaldesJournéesdelaDanseContemporainedeCarthageonFebruary24th.
OurgoalnowistopresentthisduetinFrance.Nevertheless,weneedanadditionalrehearsaltimeforthispiecetobedefinitivelyreadytogoontour.TherearealsosometechnicalaspectstocompletethatthedisorganizationinTunisiacausedbytherecenteventsmadeimpossibletofinalize.
Fortheyear2012,theCarolineBoDanceCompanyhassubmittedthisprojecttotheBouches‐du‐Rhône Council. TheMerlan Theater inMarseille has expressed its intention to host theduetforitsFrenchpremièreinFall2012.
MalekSebaï
ChoreographyandInterpretationMalekSebaïCarolineBo
MusicArvoPartandZeinAbdelkafi(Soundmix)
VideoGhaziFrini
CostumesBesmaDhaouadiMichèlePendray
LightsSabriAtrous(Tunisia)
Jean‐BastienNehr(France)
PhotocreditsPolGuillardPatriciaTriki
ProductionmanagerElyaneBuisson,Azadproduction
France
CompagnieCarolineBo84rueSaintJacques13006Marseille
France+33(0)685573923www.carolinebo.org
Tunisia
MalekSebaï