INTERVIEW
The year 1992 is when Philippe Decouflé became a character known to the general public. That year, the choreographer, whose show All Must Disappear will open the 2019 season of the Théâtre de Chaillot, is chosen to choreograph the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Albertville. Frédéric Taddéï met him in the city of Saint-Denis, where his dance company is based. For the show En promenade avec , the artist evoked these memories of the event, one of the first to be orchestrated as a show in its own right.
"I started a fashion, despite myself"
From his ceremony, Philippe Decouflé sees only positive: "I have a very good memory of it, I was 30 at the time, it was really a great chance to be in charge of a big show like this one, "he explains in the preamble, already aware at the time of the scale of the project. Especially since the choreographer has changed the situation: "Until my show, the opening of the Olympic Games, it was a series of formalities - parade athletes, handing flags, etc. - There were in China shows with a thousand Chinese doing the same thing, etc. But I started a fashion, despite myself, the opening ceremony that shows the creativity of the country, "he says.
Who says Albertville, says Winter Olympics. The order made to him is then simple and logical: "I really enjoyed myself, I worked on winter sports, on the beauty of the sporting gesture.It was the order.I was very free. " The artist uses his own journey to give substance to his ideas. For three years earlier, Philippe Decouflé was assisting Jean-Paul Goude for the parade of the bicentenary of the Revolution, another great moment. "I could see how a huge event was being directed, so when it came down to me, I was less scared," recalls the choreographer.
If his experience has been positive, the result of the Olympic ceremonies has found less favor in his eyes. By his own admission, he looked at "some of the next two and then dropped", uninterested. He explained: "I had done something huge, complex, expensive, then there was a sort of overbid, it became bling-bling as if the essence that had fed us was lost en route and that only rhinestones remained, "he describes.
In comparison, he recalls what motivated him at the time: "I think that in what we did, there was a real desire, an emotion, the desire to show all the French underground creation that I I knew very well since the 1980s, there were fabulous artists, I had a great costume and I was aware of how lucky I was to show it on a large scale all of a sudden. of love and it remains for me a memorable experience, extraordinary, like a bubble, "he concludes.