In November 2019, Chanteloup-les-Vignes was the scene of a night of violence during which the tent, erected in the heart of the city of Noé to host prevention activities and cultural events of the town, burned down. Neusa Thomasi , the founder and director of La Compagnie des Contraires, who officiated in this place, recounts her arrival in this city of Yvelines almost 30 years ago, her installation difficulties and the transformation that took place thanks to different initiatives of the town hall.
When did you arrive in Chanteloup-les-Vignes?
27 years ago. I came from Brazil and I really discovered what the French suburbs were with this cultural wealth, this mixture. I was totally fascinated by it. I heard several languages, I saw several colors, different clothes, different habits, different smells… and I really fell in love with Chanteloup. I flashed over this city and I said to myself 'there is everything to do'. At the time, culture was not in the priorities of the mayor and I told myself that it was necessary to build a cultural policy for this youth, that I had to stay and get involved in this city.
How was the arrival of your theater company?
It was very hard on all aspects. But we have implemented prevention projects that linked sport and culture and little by little, the violence has more or less subsided. We started to create jobs, to integrate, we were in direct contact with young people. And we also had the local police working with us, it was great. A real network worked in the same direction with a single objective: to make this slump, this despair of young people, lead to a ray of light.
Is it more complicated to do theater in the middle of cities?
We worked on the covered market, place de la Coquille. It was complicated because extremely dirty. The drug trafficking was really present, the daily violence, the motorcycles, the noise ... But I had worked younger in the suburbs in Brazil so it is a universe that I had already encountered. The difference is that in the favelas there, we don't touch the equipment. What is done for children, for families, for the population, we do not touch. Neither the facilities nor the people who come for the development of their city and its inhabitants. Here I discovered the opposite and it shocked me a lot.
How has Chanteloup-les-Vignes evolved in 27 years?
When the Compagnie des Contraires arrived in 1993, it was a completely landlocked and stigmatized city. It was the "Chicago of the Yvelines", as it was called. Urban renewal has started, it has opened up the street: buildings have been destroyed, streets have been traced and the city of today has nothing to do with it. Chanteloup-les-Vignes is beautiful, welcoming, with green spaces, movement. The city is totally open plan, especially between districts, and that is a great success of urban renewal.
Did the fire in November slow down this development?
Since the fire, there is a big void. The children of this city were truly traumatized. It was a truly criminal act that traumatized the city. We too but above all, a whole generation has seen a place they love burning, where they came to be free, to speak, to create, to play, to discover themselves… And it went up in smoke, like that , in a few hours. This fire broke a lot. I don't know how long the Compagnie des Contraires will stay in Chanteloup-les-Vignes. No doubt, as long as we feel useful. We still have things to do, this is not the time to give up.