
NOUS, LE RADEAU / WE, the LUST
on tour in 2026
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!
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"Dancers, musicians, technical team: the unity and synchronicity with which we worked toward a shared vision made us reconsider what society, individuality, and community mean. What makes us human, our differences and connections to animal, god, demon and machine. The boundary between the physical, the spiritual, and the digital has shifted and continues to resonate in the performances." – Choir member, Paris
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"ecstatic and all-encompassing creation, a journey into the heart of human magma."
The precise and versatile scenography, the lighting, and the collective effort of all involved create an unimaginable result that only art can achieve.
This is a cult-worthy performance that deserves international success and a return to Paris, allowing us to vibrate and journey on the raft, emerging transformed by the human experience.
– Cult News, Bérénice Clerc (10.12.204)
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Inspired by The Raft of the Medusa, the choreographer and composer of Nous, le Radeau deliver a performance with a hallucinatory atmosphere.
As the performance ends, it’s challenging to define its content or align it with the manifesto in the program. Still, this phrase stands out: “Our goal is not to recreate the painting, but to evoke the body’s unyielding will to survive when everything else has disappeared; survival is the visceral and driving force of this work.”
From this maelstrom of movement and sound emerges a vital force of tragic and shadowy beauty. This extraordinary work premiered in early December at the Cité de la Musique, performed for just two nights. – Causeur FR. Rafael De Guëbertanis (10-12-2024)
photo © Alwin poiana