© AGATHE POUPENEY
Borderline
“The contemporary dance revolution is taking place. And dancers like Sébastien Ramirez and Honji Wang are on the frontlines.” L’Indépendant
“It isn’t enough for Borderline to just be awesome to watch. It opens itself up like hip-hop knows how to do.” Le Monde
Borderline marks a turning point in Sébastien Ramirez and Honji Wang’s research and choreographic language. The dance expands in a dialogue between technique and the art of rigging, while the reflection on human relationships now includes the reality of living together in our democracies. Social boundaries are evoked by the interplay of physical forces on the stage as well as through testimonies - collected from the dancers’ friends and relatives, or from the media, and broadcasted in voice over. The rigging element, a scenic tool notorious as Deus Ex Machina in the Greek tragedy, allows us to approach weightlessness to create a timeless poetics. In the interaction with the rigger, the body becomes the object of a “weight game”, of balance and freedom. Attached to cables, the five dancers bring to light and transpose the desire of freedom inherent in all forms of dance, especially Hip Hop. With a wealth of experience in levitation, Hip Hop discovers new ways to thwart gravity in its virtuosity of footwork. The gestures and the costumes create images that reflect Greek and Korean traditions in animality, as well as in our desires and angsts. Between the promise of freedom and the violence of keeping our bodies on the ground, is a space allowing the invention of a new gestural approach. With great fluidity, the piece displays accents of acrobatics, visual poetry and the urban universe. It extends to the ground where the gravitational borderlines shift horizontally, in a mobile scenography that continues to evolve throughout the performance. Video link: https://vimeo.com/79555677 Artistic direction & choreography: Wang Ramirez Performers: Louis Becker, Johanna Faye or Christine Joy Alpuerto Ritter, Kai Gaedtke, Mustapha Saïd Lehlouh or Mehdi Baki, Sébastien Ramirez, Honji Wang Rigging development: Jason Oettlé and Kai Gaedtke Composition: Jean-Philippe Barrios with the participation of: Christophe Isselee and the voices of: Chung-Won Wang and Henri Ramirez Mercat de les Flors Barcelone (in the frame of creation residencies at Graner) Act'art – Conseil général de Seine-et-Marne Centre Chorégraphique National de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne / Company Käfig TANZtheater INTERNATIONAL, Hannover Support Conseil régional Languedoc-Roussillon Préfecture de région du Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi- Pyrénées, Direction régionale des affaires culturelles Conseil départemental des Pyrénées Orientales Montpellier Danse, residency at Agora, cité internationale de la danse Thanks to Centre Culturel Jacques Prévert à Villeparisis for the creation residency. HAU – Hebbel am Ufer for the research possibilities in Berlin. With the support of Montpellier Danse, residency at Agora, cité internationale de la danse. The original soundtrack of Borderline is available on lacrymoboy.bandcamp.com and on iTunes (artist: lacrymoboy). Light design and technical direction: Cyril Mulon Dramaturgical collaboration: Catherine Umbdenstock Set design: Paul Bauer Costume realization: Anna Ramirez Executive production: Company Wang Ramirez, Clash66 Co-production Théâtre de l'Archipel, scène nationale de Perpignan (in the frame of a creation residency) Théâtre de la Ville, Paris Parc de La Villette, Paris Initiatives d'Artistes en Danses Urbaines (Fondation de France – Parc de la Villette with the support of Caisse des Dépôts and Acsé) Company Wang Ramirez - Clash66 receives a company support by Ministry of Culture, Regional council of Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée and the County council Pyrénées Orientales. The company receives the support of Foundation BNP Paribas for the development of its projects. Sébastien Ramirez & Honji Wang are associated artists of Théâtre de l’Archipel, scène nationale de Perpignan for the seasons 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17. www.wangramirez.com www.facebook.com/WangRamirez Borderline HD from 2Luck Concepts on Vimeo.
