BDanse ?
Who has never dreamt, as a child, of stepping through the mirror, beyond the page, to live the character’s adventures as in true life? Both children and adults are equally fascinated by comics, through their power to build, picture after picture, so many unexpected worlds.
The BDanse project mixes body and drawing to give flesh to the paper characters. It is a way of casting ourselves back into our first emotions, abolishing distance and approaching the very substance of the drawing, through an innovative approach to the art of comics.
These two art forms share many common traits, such as building space and expressing an emotion through a gesture or a movement. Hence the logic of their encounter. Comics and dance have already given birth to collaborations, including stage designs and costumes designed by comics authors. The BDanse Project aims to push this further, by not only working with the author but also reproducing the intimate atmospheres of his or her creation through dance. The purpose is to explore the specificities of comic works and unravel their relationship to dance, through scriptwriting, drawings, intimate spaces, sceneries and costumes.
In the first part of this project, Emilio Calcagno and Olivier Dubois worked with French comics author Stéphane Blanquet, who was invited to attend the “Rencontres du 9ème art” (International comics authors fair in southern France) in Aix en Provence, in April 2006.
The next project, in collaboration with French author Régis Loisel, will feature a staged performance of the world-renowned Peter Pan, icon of childhood and dreams. Spectators will plunge into a dreamlike world, as the two arts blend, breathing through the bodies of the dancers.
Key elements of the Bdanse project:
A meeting between comics writers and choreographers
For each performance, choreographers will call on a new author to intervene at different levels following his preferences (stage design, costumes, narration, drawings, etc). Choreographies can be based on existing comic books or on new ones created especially for the purpose.
Two types of writing
In the dialogue between the two art forms, dance works as an echo of the book that inspires it. The result is not improvisation, but dance written to match the book’s rhythm and atmosphere.
Moving drawings
The focus is on the characters’ way of moving. Indeed, dancers have to embody each character as though it were jumping out of the page.
Short pieces
The purpose is not to picture the whole story, but to offer an insight into the book’s atmosphere in short performances of about 20 minutes each.
A simple stage design
The idea is to put on these short performances in dance theatres, as well as in uncommon places such as comic book festivals, where little or no room is offered for dance. The choreographies can be adapted to all kinds of places since they require no set stage, but only a few significant items. An innovative creation of costumes, lights and music will emphasise this unique and intermediary world.
When audiences cross paths
A meeting of these two art forms will attract a wider audience, drawn from both the literary and performing art scenes. Light and colourful choreographies have also been designed to bring a younger audience to discover both worlds.
