July 15th, 16 th, 17th; the time to perform
The stress of the D-day, the stress of the first one. We were all dressed up with pink and white costumes of Opéra Grand Avignon to match the hanging flags, which gave something of an evening animation for a holiday club. One hour before the show, we distributed flyers with Julie and Marie at La Plaine, a park where families go to play at the end of the day. “Come on, tonight, there’s a party, a few blocks away from here. There’ll be dance, music, food. And it’s free, so you’re more than welcome to join.”. They mostly said yes but we did not know if they’d come indeed. We came back, waiting for the clock to answer. Meanwhile, Rayna and Mamadou prepared for their duo, as well as Arlette and Michelle. Olivier, the sound engineer, did the last technical check-up with Fred. The lights were on, the flags were out; and the wood structures were waiting for people to arrive, just as we were… For her videos, Rayna had finally chosen three landing TVs, that would echo with her three fabric-printed pictures. These thwarted body parts were so smooth that it looked like natural part of the landscape.
8:00 pm. The show is just about to start. Fred puts on a nostalgic musical atmosphere. Some people are already sited on Giacomo’s different wood structures. There are not too many people, but some are still arriving, and finally, it’ s more than 50 people who are there. Inhabitants of the neighborhood, families from La Plaine, people from the center that came with La Manufacture’s shuttle bus… There are insiders and outsiders. There is a true mix, even a balance… The recorded voices begin to tell their stories.
From her wooden stage, Balkis starts her speech, talking about the people she met and the gestures they shared with her. As she speaks about Michelle and Arlette, they both come out of the audience and initiate their gestural dance. One is doing the manual laundry, the other is preparing couscous. Then, it’s time for Mamadou and Rayna’s duo, also emerging from the spectators – Mamadou pushed by the wind and Rayna beating the bread on the table as her mamma use to do. Just like moving canvas.
On Saturday, second day of the performance, Michelle and Arlette weren’t there, but Imène was. She did a fantastic solo. The little girls in the crowd were looking at her with amazed eyes. On Sunday, the last day, everyone was here, so every dance took place and the scene was complete.
As the elements of scenography and performance took place in different small spaces, the audience would turn the head, even stand up not to miss a single thing… At some point, in between the dances and the interviews, Fred read a text that he wrote about living in a deprived neighborhood, “au quartier”, as it’s said in French. He had told us he would read something quite long, because he wanted to create this kind of pause, this moment out of time… During the repetitions he had read us just the very beginning so we were all truly discovering the whole text for the first time. I really saw a lot of emotions in peoples’ eyes. I even saw tears streaming down some cheeks.
At the end of the show, Balkis had planned to encourage the audience to take part in the dance by teaching them some very simple gestures that had been shared with her during the residencies.
That was supposed to be the transformation in a really participatory show; the spectator becoming a spect’actor. But that was a challenge.
As she began, just a few people took part in the exercise. Some were still shy, but after one or two tries, almost everyone began to clap in their hands and to imitate the choreography. Then, everyone was invited to dance just in front of the stage, creating a collective moment. Surrounded with smiles – that ended the show perfectly. Within this full effervescence, we went out with the pink and white small pastries (*they finally had been made within a dedicated workshop organized by Flore and Caroline at the kitchen clerk school in M.I.N.), matching the flags and the costumes – but also with the bissap and hibiscus juice that Mamadou and Julie had prepared, plus Drifa’s tea, and water. The big bench of the middle became a big table buffet. People went around it to share a drink, a mignardise and a talk. That was a success. More than expected.
Reality > expectations.
Each evening was very different but they were all magical. A perfect balance between the usual audience of the Festival, coming from “inside” the fortifications – and the inhabitants of the neighborhood, coming down their flats, coming out on their balconies. A perfect mix between a complex artistic proposition and a simple block party. The magic operated. The challenge was passed with flying colors. Pink and white.
Text & pictures by Céline Delatte
