Ordinary witnesses

Ordinary witnesses

Ordinary witnesses

Conception Rachid Ouramdane
Performance Lora Juodkaite, Mille Lundt, Wagner Schwartz, Georgina Vila Bruch, Yeojin Yun
Music Jean-Baptiste Julien
Light design Yves Godin
Video Jenny Teng and Nathalie Gasdoué

Ordinary witnesses

Les Echos, by Philippe Noisette, Friday 5 and Saturday 6 June 2009




Rachid Ouramdane, a young choreographer in the limelight, (...) has just premiered “Des témoins ordinaries” in Annecy before its run in Avignon. From show to show, Ouramdane raises questions about his roots or about the world around him. Here, with a striking quintet of performers, he delves back into war and its consequences; exile and its wounds. The setup is simple: a screen displaying a stream of testimonials put together by video artist Jenny Teng. The witnesses come from Brazil, Palestine, Rwanda...and painstakingly tell about their grief, fear or outrage. In counterpoint, Rachid Ouramdane’s choreography glides onstage, without the slightest attempt at illustration - being obviously impossible. The bodies at first avoid one another, and then hook up: carryings, a dancer with another dancer huddled in his arms, hinting at rescue, a helping hand. The lighting drapes these ghostlike creatures, dancers who’ve stumbled upon the path of horror. These “ordinary witnesses” do not point a finger nor aim for revenge. Rather, through the words and gestures that unfold before our eyes, an outraged humanity shows its face. And that’s no mean feat. 

 

L'humanité, by Muriel Steinmetz, 23 July 2009

Dancing in aid of survivorsIn “Des témoins ordinaries”, Rachid Ouramdane probes the experience of suffering during civil wars.


(...) These ordinary witnesses are people who were physically subjected to barbaric acts and have the guts to talk about it with the lucidity and sensitivity that are so crucial. These survivors, whom we see in motion onscreen, come from Rwanda, Argentina, Chili, Brazil and Palestine. In the middle of an utterly bare stage, a wall of projectors (devised by Yves Godin) gleams and flickers. The faces on video by no means hinder the dance, but enhance its powers of persuasion. The five performers (Lora Juodkaite, Mille Lundt, Wagner Schwartz, Georgina Vila Bruch and Yeojin Yun) enact the tragic narratives, without ever sinking to shallow illustration (...) 

 

Armelle Héliot’s blog, 23 July 2009

In the cool air of Tinel, a wall of projectors enclosed the courtyard space (on the audience’s left). Now and then faces would appear. On the other side, a screen gave us a closer glimpse of different faces, sometimes those we’d see later on, shown in close-up, talking about conflicts, humiliation, imprisonment, interrogations, and torture they’d undergone in some era or other. None of this ever vanishes…. The stage was otherwise empty, and five performers danced for the span of an hour, with grace, discipline, and an energy that was unobtrusive, all of the dancers beautiful and wholeheartedly committed. With Rachid Ouramdane, dance ushers us back to the world, while conveying that a body can say much more than words. Precise and harmonious movements. And when a gesture comes to a halt, when an interruption severs the show’s magnificent fluidity, this gesture or interruption is woven into the very fabric of the powerful choreography, spotlighting the personalities of the performers: Lora Juodkaite, Mille Lundt, Wagner Schwartz, Georgina Vila Bruch, and Yeojin Yun. High above, Rachid Ouramdane watched over them. Stunning work. Strong and intense, like you’d say about coffee. For this show, dancer/choreographer Ouramdane approached people from “real life”. He got them to speak with tact, and then translated their thoughts and emotions in an attempt to celebrate the courage of these human beings who’ve endured horrific acts of brutality, because they are sincere, open-minded, and because they have convictions.   

Le Dauphiné Libéré, by Carine Bel, 27 May 2009

Human geology in dance-steps, “Des témoins ordinaries” unearths bodily memory right where it’s most reactive: the scars. (...) This sensitive portrayal of the drastic survivor experience sheds in-the-flesh light on dealing with history’s conflicts from an individual viewpoint (...) The choreography draws on man’s ability to reinvent himself, and unleashes startlingly painful body-language. The words tell of vanished places and impossible memories. The lights capture glimmers of astonishing individuals. We are in a dilated space-time that is amazingly calm, where five performers instill vibrant matter. Before our eyes, with seeming effortlessness, they writhe, dislocate and transform. With “Des témoins ordinaries”, Rachid Ouramdane has created a dazzling show where beings move about with extreme finesse in a memory that keeps reconstructing itself. Like a painting that bares itself layer by layer, this is a dance performance that gauges the human scope.

 

 

 

 

 

Ordinary witnesses

Ordinary witnesses

Ordinary witnesses

Ordinary witnesses