Chorus

PRESS

“[…] The ‘Voix Humaines’ choir appears on the stage looking unspectacularly normal, forms a semi-circle – as one would expect a classic choir to – and sings […].  But then it gets physical. The singers come on stage individually, layer themselves and their singing on top of each other and blend into a thick lump, like warm caramel. One can sense how much work it must have been for these non-dancers to get entangled in one another, to embrace, to gaze long and directly into each other’s eyes. It is this honesty which is so convincing.”
NDR Kultur, 7 September 2013

preview TEXT

French choreographer Mickaël Phelippeau knows how to create big moments on the stage. In this piece, he presents the 21-person a cappella ensemble Voix Humaines as a singing community and a mirror on society, filling the entire stage with movement and sound. While drawing inspiration from choral traditions, Phelippeau interprets the chorus in new, unconventional ways. He creates a common body of song which is in constant motion, allowing the individuality of each member to be revealed. They sing Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata “Nicht so traurig, nicht so sehr” in ever new formations and variations. Phelippeau has a penchant for artistic encounters at eye level. In Voix Humaines, he has found the ideal partners for this very sensuous exploration of community and the body as a medium of movement and sound.

(ca. 60 Min.)

 

Watch a video clip from the production on youtube

 

cast & credits

A choreographic piece by Mickaël Phelippeau
Collaborator Marcela Santander Corvalàn
Performers Ensemble a capella Voix Humaines
(sopranos) Lizza Boitard-Thomas, Agnès Garçon, Laure Leyzour, Françoise Riou, Amélina Rivalland
(mezzos) Jeanne Bardin-Marchesse, Cécile Girod, Anne-Marie Perenes
(altos) Anne Bien, Marie-Louise Heydon, Joëlle Perron
(ténors) André Deletoille, Benjamin Faucher, Yannick Le Bitter, Renaud Mascret
(barytons) Stéphane Debatisse, Jacques Derrien, Jean-Noël Lesage
(basses) Manfred Blasko, Jérôme Houlon, Grégoire Jandin
Lighting Alain Feunteun
Sound Romain Cayla
Video editing Vivian Demard
Musical arrangement for video Pascal Marius
Acknowledgements: Maeva Cunci, Garden Gym Brest, Maël Guiblin, Julie Lefèvre, Laurence Potier et l’équipe du Quartz
Production bi-p association
Co-producer Le Quartz-scène nationale de Brest
Production coordinator Chloé Ferrand / Isabelle Morel
Executive director Pascale Dubois

Subsidies Direction régionale des affaires culturelles Centre ; Région Centre ;
French Institute

All performances from French companies were made possible with kind support from the Institut français and the French ministry for culture and media / DGCA.