Europe of Cultures - Alain Platel's show at the Théâtre de la Ville

Context

For nearly twenty-five years, the self-taught Belgian choreographer and director Alain Platel and his artist collective, les Ballets C. de la B. (C. for contemporary and B for Belgium), have mixed dance, theatre, music and circus to tell us about the world around us. One of the strengths of the company's shows is the use of its actors, whether they be amateur or professional, who abundantly feed the creation with their stories, their problems and their opinions. Born in 1959, Platel was first a teacher for handicapped children. In 1984 he put on his first show,Stabat Mater, in his apartment. Since then, Platel and the Ballets C. de la B. have achieved international renown through their thirty or so productions, amongst which areWolf, created in 2003 and played at the Opéra Garnier in 2005 andVsprs in 2006, his latest creation. In 2004 Platel received the European theatre prize for his complete works.

Claire Libbra

Transcription

Daniel Bilalian

At the Théâtre de la Ville, in Paris, Belgian company Alain Platel is presenting a choreography that is primarily inspired by the difficulties of living in our society: poverty, exclusion. It should be noted, though, that part of the troupe was recruted from the very outcasts that are discussed in the show. Bruno Albin, Nathalie Gallet.

(Music)

Bruno Albin

At the beginning, there is the striking beauty of one of Henry Purcell's melody. But the baroque living rooms have become train station halls and the violins have been replaced by accordions. Alain Platel's characters tell the stories of, without saying anything, ordinary people whose paths only happen to cross because of their daily lives. What this show adds to this vision of a grey world, is inconguity, surprise, and basically, poetry. Is this a ballet? Not really. An opera? Not much more. Alain Platel, this teaching specialist who became, by random chance, a theatre man, defines himself as a collector of things that are seen.

Alain Platel

When we meet someone, our first impression is that they're very ordinary. But it's by meeting someone that we discover that he or she brings lots of poetry, lots of unhappiness, lots of joy, lots of everything, you know.

(Music)

Bruno Albin

With his little grotesque world, Alain Platel explains in his way the same sad story as Jérôme Deschamps's little people. His story doesn't make you cry either, but it won't make you laugh. It simply lets emotions run freely.