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"Autumn Zebra". The new name illustrates the new ambitions. During the opening night, all the leaders of the Francophonies agreed to speak of a " new era ", a " mutation ", but also to " cultivate audacity " so that " Limoges is the place Francophonie in the world ". Wednesday, September 25, the festival started with a participatory show, Rituals vagabonds , a " feasible utopia " concocted by Martinique choreographer Josiane Antourel. Interview.
RFI : Your Vagrant Rituals piece, has shown itself as a " participatory " show. Are you happy with the result ?
Josiane Antourel : That's really what happened. We counted on the tacit participation of the public. They are shown signs, told them things ... afterwards, the spectators embark - or do not embark. There, they embarked. The rain helped us, finally. We could not do what we had prepared for the planned walk outside, but the new configuration, the stress of the room, condensed the energy. There were people everywhere. We no longer knew who was a dancer, who was an actor, or a spectator. We had to communicate directly with them. We do not know each other, but we touch each other, we say good night, thank you, etc. This requires flexibility in the state of mind. For that, I said: we are doing a "participatory" project.
There are more and more shows where the traditional place of comedians and the public is questioned. Is the theater world looking for a new place for the audience ?
I hope. It's been a long time since there are teams working in this direction. Just think of Peter Brook. We take the theater out of its black box and the frontal presentation. The diversity of the Francophonie means that people come from countries where things happen in circles, in Guinea, in Martinique and elsewhere. There are cultures where it goes like peeling an orange peel. There, it was an opportunity to change people's vision of theater, where we sit and we look in the face what happens, and we like or do not like. On the other hand, we are caught in it. We are no longer in a position to judge, because we react, we are jostled ...
Ritual vagabonds , on what rituals rests the room ?
We are 27 [ lovers of the Limousin region and professional artists, Ed ] to do the piece. We chose to work around the theme of the state of the planet, and the idea that by opening the mouth, we could invent a world "other". The first procession is called "feasible Utopia". This utopia can be realized, against all odds. To protect it, young women were put on bouquets of leaves, restoring nature's healing power. All these leaves are magical, so we dance with the leaves around the procession to purify the path, so that this utopian procession can go to the realization of its utopia. For that, it's a ritual.
You were born in Saint Raphael, grew up in Martinique, lived in Chad, Madagascar, Canada. What does the Francophonie represent for you ?
Wherever I went, there was that in common, the French language. It is important. Instead of saying to oneself, " you are different, I hate you, so, let us wither ," we can talk peacefully about things that can beautify the world. The art of living. We have French in common to exchange. I find it fabulous. A common language is like knitting needles. After, we put threads that compose us and we knit something.
► To read also: Hassane Kouyaté: " The Francophonies in Limoges were a positive shock for me "
► The Francophonies - Writings on the Stage, The Autumn Zebra, from September 25 to October 6, 2019, in Limoges, France