Six bodies gathered together through slings and pulleys to re-enact the tragic myth of Castor and Pollux.
The two twin brothers, born from different fathers (Pollux is the son of immortal Zeus, while Castor is the son of mortal Tyndareus, king of Sparta), embody both the unfailing strength of brotherly friendship which ties them together, and the tragic inequality of birth which separates them. Despite their spirited heroism, Castor is killed by a rival, leaving Pollux, the immortal, distraught. Zeus offers them an alternated existence between Olympus and Hades, which puts an end to the imbalance of their conditions, but separates them forever. Subsequent legends turn them into the Gemini constellation. Torn between power and extreme vulnerability, the two hanging bodies experience the limits of their situation, from inertia to maximum strength, from heroism to submissiveness, whereas the four manipulators, involved in a complex choreography, play in turn the part of fate, conniving god, doom or bearer of funeral shadows.
CREATION TEAM
Conception Cecilia Bengolea, François Chaignaud
Performers Cecilia Bengolea, Marc Bizet, François Chaignaud, Yann Kermarrec, Jean-Michel Olivares, Jean-Marc Segalen
Lighting design Éric Wurtz
Sound technician Jean-Michel Olivares
Costumes and harness Marino Marchand, Babeth Martin, Jean Malo
Dramaturgy collaboration Joris Lacoste
Suspension Marc Bizet
Stand-in Rosalie Tsai
Administration/production: Matthieu Banvillet
Tour planning Sarah de Ganck/ART HAPPENS
COPRODUCTION
Le Quartz – Scène nationale de Brest, Festival Montpellier Danse, Le Merlan – Scène nationale de Marseille, La Ménagerie de verre – Paris, Centre chorégraphique national de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, Jardin d’Europe – Imagetanz/brut Wien, Théâtre de Vanves.
SUPPORTS
The project was in residence at CentQuatre (Paris) and Djerassi Artists Residency Program (San Francisco) and was supported by the French Consulate in San Francisco.
SPECIAL THANKS TO
The whole team of Quartz