L'Esquisse: Effraction du Silence (Breaking the Silence)
Butterfly Dance Beside Stones (Nina Vangeli, Lidové noviny)

L'Esquisse: Effraction du Silence (Breaking the Silence)

The dance-duo of Bouvier and Obadia is not unknown in Prague, as they were already invited to perform Welcome to Paradise, in October, 1990, by the French Institute. In 1980, the Algerian Régis Obadia and Swiss Joelle Bouvier founded the group Esquisse in the French town of Le Havre. In 1993, they moved to Angers and Esquisse became the base for the National Centre of Modern Dance. The choreography of both dancers won several prizes during their participation in French and international festivals. Régis Obadia and Joelle Bouvier are authors of twelve performances, five short films, as well as one book, two video-clips (one for Patrick Bruel and second one for Dee Dee Bridgewater). They seek their inspiration from various spheres. Their choreography always connects each kind of art. About themselves, they say that they were inspired by the art of such dancers as Pina Bausch or Francois Verret, as well as by films of Tarkovskij, and in particular, by the art of the classic painters (Rembrandt, Grünewald, Bacon or Velickovič). In their work, there is no quotation, plagiarism or imitation, merely some suggestion of reminiscence.
          "Our work is not connected with an explicit technique. Our search builds only on the recognition of our own body and its artistic expression", Régis Obadia and Joelle Bouvier say.
          eir dance is very far off from the cold style and bright moving expressions which convey any kind of feeling, something that is often seen on the European stages.
          In the Archa Theatre, Régis Obadia and Joelle Bouvier will present their latest performance Effraction du Silence (Breaking the Silence), which they define as an "intoxicating and fragile dance full of extreme and lyrical breaks". The couple dance on the stage together with another seven dancers. Their performance, as well as the lighting design of Rémi Nicolase and music montage of Patrick Roudier (from Šostakovič to Sex Pistols), creates an atmosphere charged with emotion and tension.


L'Esquisse is presented by the Archa Theatre and French Institute in collaboration AFAA under support of the Czech Ministry of Culture. The guest appearance of L'Esquisse is a part of the dance festival Tanec Praha.

Butterfly Dance Beside Stones

After the famous theatre magician Philippe Genty, the pair of choreographers JOELLE BOUVIER - RÉGIS OBADIA were presented in Archa Theatre, the next important representation of the French art of dance. Several years ago, they had already been hosted in Prague with the performance of Welcome to Paradise, and they truly inspired the audience. At that time, the only interpreters were these two choreographers. The prestige of the duo arose recently, they remained in the dance center in Angres, where they founded the group L´ESQUISSE, with whom they created their first work, L´Effraction du silence (Breaking the Silence).

The theme of the piece is war. The stage design brings us to the trenches during an air-raid. We can see several old grey doors with scratched paint and knocked-out window-panes. However, the horror of war is not presented by any naturalism or subscribed scene, but by the continued moving references to the beauty of youth, the beauty of love, to defenceless and to tenderness, which is endangered by war.
          Nine of the dark grey dressed dancers are snatched by the esthetic perfection of their bodies, the movements of their naked and supple arms are decorative and ceremonial. They make slow and dreamy pliés, while in the back, a confused woman scurries from door to door. With a dreamy elegance, the dancers make love, coming closer and wandering between the doors, full of various falls, as is typical of these choreographers' style, and in fact even for the theme alone. The choice of music is very effective in this performance. The soundtrack is created not only from the musical compositions of Bach through to Schnittke and the Sex Pistols, but also from the contemporary sound recordings - the voices of Goebbels, Mussolini, Stalin and Martin Luther King.
          L'Esquisse works with suggestion. In the love duet, after each approach or fall, the woman bursts out laughing with a silent metallic laughter, then the dancers' use make vibrations like butterflies with the palms of their hands. They fly around them until they sit down to sexuality. The dancer watches them just for a second and their shock is transferred to both butterflies, so they fly up again to their fluttering dance. - A dancer runs out on the stage and at the same time, throws several stones onto stage. From the other side, another does the same, then another, until the stage is completely buried. The women with long pale legs fall down, the men run among them; they cover them for a while, remain above them, then run away.
          Maybe in the context of the work of both choreographers, this performance wasn't a marked step forward. Even in Prague, we begin to be a spoiled audience. But until the time when our own choreographic productions reach the European standard, we have to welcome such an opportunity for the audience, and give thanks to the French Cultural Institute, which create such experiences (among others even this one).

Nina Vangeli, Lidové noviny, 15. 6. 1995