Retour en Avant / Past Forward Biennale de la Danse Lyon - France

Dominique Bagouet (1951-1992)Né le 9 juillet 1951 à Angoulême, DominiqueBagouet reçoit à Cannes une formationclassique dans l’école de Rosella Hightower,avant d’obtenir ses premiers engagementsau Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genèvedirigé par Alfonso Cata où, quelques sixmois plus tard, il danse dans un programmede Balanchine. Il passe une audition chezFélix Blaska, puis va chez Maurice Béjart àBruxelles. En quête de nouveauté, il participeà l’atelier que Carolyn Carlson ouvreà l’Opéra de Paris, fait partie de Chandra,groupe autonome avec des anciens deMudra dont Micha van Hoecke. Dès 1974,il reçoit l’enseignement intensif de CarolynCarlson, de Peter Goss et part aux Etats-Unis.Dans la foulée Limon, il choisit de travailleravec Jennifer Muller et Lar Lubovitch. ANew-York, il prend les cours de classiquede Maggie Black, le professeur de tous lesdanseurs contemporains, en particulier ceuxde Cunningham. De retour en France en1976, il présente sa première chorégraphie,Chansons de nuit, au Concours de Bagnolet,pour laquelle il obtient le premier prix. Ilfonde à Montpellier la Compagnie DominiqueBagouet, et devient directeur, dès 1980,de l’un des premiers Centres Chorégraphiquesrégionaux, rebaptisé Centre ChorégraphiqueNational de Montpellier en 1984. Lescréations s’enchaînent rapidement. DominiqueBagouet crée près d’une quarantaine depièces en moins de quinze ans. Il participe àplusieurs mises en scène de théâtre et d’opéras,il co-réalise deux films, il collabore à deschorégraphies collectives. Sa disparition en1992 a posé avec brutalité le problème de lapréservation et de la transmission d’un patrimoinechorégraphique marquant dans ledomaine de la danse contemporaine. Des interprèteset collaborateurs de la CompagnieBagouet se sont mis au travail en créantl’association Les Carnets Bagouet qui a pourvocation de coordonner et de réaliser toutesles initiatives à prendre dans le domainede la transmission. Le fonds d’archives estimmense, il reflète l’intense activité créatricedu chorégraphe et de sa compagnie.Comment le passé peut-il dessiner le futur ?Il ne faudrait pas que le passé façonne le futur enconduisant à d’éternelles redites.En revanche, il est nécessaire de connaître le passé,s’en inspirer parfois et s’en libérer toujours.Si les artistes qui nous ont précédés ont ouvertdes chemins nouveaux, tracé des pistes que nouscontinuons à emprunter ou à admirer, les artistes et lespublics d’aujourd’hui doivent entretenir une mémoireactive et critique.L’absence de mémoire, le rejet ou le reniement del’Histoire conduit à la folie, aux pires des réactions, auconformisme et aux catastrophes.N’opposons pas passé et futur, ce sont les deux termesconsubstantiels entre lesquels notre conscience etnotre compréhension du présent prennent forme etnous ouvrent la liberté.Didier DeschampsInfos +Recréation pour la Biennale de la DanseCompagnie invitée en 2002www.ballet-de-lorraine.comwww.lescarnetsbagouet.orgCentre ChorégraphiqueNational - Ballet de LorraineBallet de Lorraine was founded on 1 September1978 as Théâtre Français de Nancy, as part ofFrance’s drive to decentralise choreographic activity.Under its first artistic director, Jean-AlbertCartier, its role was to disseminate choreographyand conduct outreach activities in Nancy and thewider Lorraine region, and to present the companyand its repertoire in France and abroad.In December 1987, Théâtre Français de Nancy’sboard of directors decided to change its nameto Ballet Français de Nancy. A month later, Jean-Albert Cartier was appointed to head the PalaisGarnier and the City of Paris festival. His post asBallet Français de Nancy’s artistic director wentto Patrick Dupond, danseur étoile at Ballet del’Opéra de Paris. Led by the fiery and determinedDupond, Ballet Français de Nancy performed onthe world’s greatest stages and offered qualityprogramming that matched its ambition tonurture and disseminate choreography.In April 1991, Patrick Dupond was promoted tobe Director of Dance at the Opéra de Paris, andwas succeeded by Pierre Lacotte. The Nancy Balletwas awarded “national” status and took thetitle of Ballet National de Nancy et de Lorraine.The repertoire now embraced not just contemporaryworks but also the classical and romanticmasterpieces that sealed Lacotte’s internationalreputation. In June 1999, Lacotte left Ballet Nationalde Nancy et de Lorraine. Keen to radicallyalter its dance style, it changed names again, becomingCentre Chorégraphique National - Balletde Lorraine. This marked a shift in focus towardscontemporary dance and creating choreographicwork. Françoise Adret, at first appointed actingartistic director for a one-year period, succeededPierre Lacotte and worked to disseminate andincrease appreciation of contemporary dance. InMarch 2000, Didier Deschamps was named generalmanager of Centre Chorégraphique National- Ballet de Lorraine. In just a few years, Balletde Lorraine had become one of France’s leadingcompanies for new and repertoire works. It gives70 performances a year on average, typicallywith several items on the bill. Repertoire pieces– both classical and contemporary – as well asnew work are placed in perspective and offerthe public a broad array of techniques, languagesand creative approaches by today’s artists,illustrating the extraordinary diversity and richesof dance. Highly-renowned choreographersand rising talents from around the world cometo Nancy, accompanied by their artistic andtechnical teams. They pass on their ideas andcreate work with the Ballet’s performers, whoare all classically trained but perfectly versed in,and passionate about, current languages andapproaches.Les petites pièces de Berlin /1998, recreated in 2008First performed almost exactly 20 years ago atthe Biennale de la Danse de Lyon, Les petitespièces de Berlin is the second work by DominiqueBagouet to enter Ballet de Lorraine’s repertoireafter Une danse blanche avec Eliane.Although each of Dominique Bagouet’s piecesis singular, this one is particularly so owing toits method of composition, which involved thedirect creative input of its initial performers. Thegeneral tone of the piece – fairly light, strange,and occasionally comic – does not preclude realintensity and depth in the succession of statesand situations, supported by a warm stagedesign and costumes and an original score.There are works that take you on a journey, thatdelight and stimulate you. Les petites pièces deBerlin is a very fine example.Dominique Bagouet (1951-1992)Born on 9 July 1951 in Angoulême, DominiqueBagouet received a classical training at RosellaHightower’s school in Cannes, before his firstengagements at Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève(director: Alfonso Cata), where, six monthslater, he danced in a Balanchine programme. Heauditioned for Félix Blaska, then joined MauriceBéjart in Brussels. Seeking new influences, hetook part in Carolyn Carlson’s new workshopat Opéra de Paris; and joined Chandra, anindependent group formed by Mudra alumniincluding Micha van Hoecke. In 1974, hereceived intensive tuition from Carolyn Carlsonand Peter Goss, and left for the United States. InJosé Limon’s slipstream, he worked with JenniferMuller and Lar Lubovitch. In New York he tookclassical classes with Maggie Black, the teacherof all contemporary dancers, especially Cunningham’s.Returning to France in 1976, he showedhis first work of choreography, Chansons denuit, at the Bagnolet Competition, winning firstprize. In Montpellier he founded Compagnie DominiqueBagouet, and in 1980 became directorof one of the first regional choreographic centres,renamed Centre Chorégraphique Nationalde Montpellier in 1984. Bagouet was a prolificcreator – almost 40 pieces in less than 15 years.He took part in several stagings of plays andoperas, co-directed two films, and collaboratedon collective choreographies. His death in 1992raised starkly the problem of preserving andpassing on a choreographic legacy that was alandmark in contemporary dance. CompagnieBagouet performers and collaborators foundeda non-profit organisation, Les Carnets Bagouet,to coordinate and carry out all the initiativesnecessary to perpetuate his work. Its immensearchive reflects the intense creative activity ofthe choreographer and his company.How can the past shape the future?The past must not fashion the future by leading toeternal repetition. However, it is necessary to know thepast, to draw occasional inspiration from it, and to beliberated from it at all times.If the artists who preceded us opened up new pathsand made tracks that we continue to borrow and admire,then today’s artists and audiences must maintainan active and critical memory. The absence of memory,and the rejection or denial of History, leads to madnessand the worst kind of reactions; to conformism anddisasters. Let us not set past and future against oneanother; they are consubstantial terms between whichare conscience and our understanding of the presenttake form and open the door to freedom.Didier DeschampsExtra info:Work recreated for the 2008 Biennalewww.ballet-de-lorraine.comwww.lescarnetsbagouet.org27