NOUS, LE RADEAU / WE, the LUST
 
"The passion for living burns like an insatiable flame, dancing on the edge between redemption and damnation, with the fervor of gods and the envy of demons." – AI Signature

Inspired by Théodore Géricault’s painting The Raft of the Medusa, this multidimensional performance deeply explores the human survival instinct. NOUS, LE RADEAU /WE, THE LUST takes the audience on a floating raft navigating the waves of passion – this ambiguous current of desire and madness, loss of control, suffering and joy and euphoria. From a chaotic crescendo to a slow reduction to a burning core, choreographers Emio Greco | Pieter C. Scholten and composer Franck Krawczyk probe the depths of human existence. During this journey, passion is a drifting force in search of more desire, offering hope, hallucination, erotic taboo, and brutality, leaving the body exhausted but open to new utopias.
 
How can we make our humanity more human? What do we do with our growing impulses? Which paths should we take in this era? Dancers, musicians, and a large choir embrace madness and surf the waves of desire: WE, THE LUST. Together, they form the heart of a broad spectrum of dynamic energies. They represent that untamed force within each of us that emerges in those moments where our existence is challenged. The three renowned musicians – cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton, pianist Wilhem Latchoumia, and clarinetist Carjez Gerretsen – amplify the emotional and physical charge and create an intriguing dissonance with the dance.
 
A multitude of voices from the audience, led by choir conductor Antoine Bretonnière and supported by a rock group – Boucan – sing the ongoing struggle of living crowds and invoke the forces of nature that surround us. Comprising singers of different generations, these amateur choirs represent unrestrained humanity. Their expressions range from emotional exclamations to screams and howls, as well as verismo opera singing and arrangements of pop songs, including specially adapted versions of the Dadaist Sonata Erotica and the Lettrist Poems by avant-garde performance artist Isidore Isou, sounding like instinctive incantations.
 
The interdisciplinary approach and provocative compositions by Franck Krawczyk inspired by pieces of music from Varèse to Ligeti to Albinoni, lead to radical breaks. It is in this unexpected and unexplored energy that all forces concentrate into one point. This core is a collective gesture where the sharing of roles between creators–performers, artists–technicians, spectators–actors, music and dance, sounds and lights, art and science, is synchronized to form a new dynamic. In the structure of a triptych (Before - During - After), the resilience and passion residing in us all are revealed, ready to ignite. Amidst this constant flow of contradictory information, and on the way to a common goal, we must not lose sight of the point on the horizon!

photo © Alwin Poiana