Page 6

It is 17 years since the French choreographer and dancer has worked in New Zealand. He joined the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 1988, becoming a principal dancer and highly regarded choreographer. During his ten years tenure he

fell in love with New Zealand. So much so he became a New Zealand citizen.

Now he is back – at least for a little while. “It was emotional for me to return. I really feel at home here; it sounds a cheesy or PR thing but it’s not. I love New Zealand,” he says. “If I leave Reunion Island one day I am sure that NZ is where I would live.”

Bbeal’s is a dance theatre work that centres on a fictional fun club for the actor Jennifer Beals, the star in the iconic 1980s film Flashdance. And while it has elements of fun and zaniness, Éric says its underlying themes are serious.

The production began at the end of last year when the five Footnote dancers travelled to Éric’s home in Reunion

Island in the Indian Ocean, to work with members of his company. This February, three of his dancers, from Portugal, Belgium and Reunion Island, came to Wellington to complete the piece.

“It’s about giving away your power, decisions and responsibility to someone else. Whether it is a fun club, a religion, or a political party, you give your decision-making power to another entity. It takes away your personal responsibility.”

Another theme in the work is people’s relationship to power and individual responsibility within a group. The dancers will build a tower such as the one referred to in the Old Testament of the Bible. This is where the B in Bbeals comes from - the Tower of Babel. “In the Bible they don’t manage to build the tower – they are stopped by God before they reach the sky,” Éric says. “We are going to have a version of this as well.”

By Francesca Horsley

in something of a happy homecoming, former royal new Zealand Ballet member Éric Languet is once again working with new Zealand dancers – this time with Footnote new Zealand Dance in a co-production, Bbeals.

A tower of fun what a feeling

FOOTNOTE NEW ZEALAND DANCE AND DANsEs EN L'RPhOTO: JeaN-NOeL eNiLORaC

FEATurE

Page 7

FOOTNOTE NEW ZEALAND DANCE AND DANsEs EN L'PhOTO: JeaN-NOeL eNiLORa

“In this piece the tower is built by everyone but the reward of being at the top is only available to one person. Like, for example, in TV reality shows where you are supposed to be a team but at the end of the day or the week you have to vote somebody off the team. The paradox of building something together is knowing from the beginning that the outcome will only benefit one person.”

Despite the thought provoking ideas, he says Bbeals is going to be “a really whacky piece. We will be moving in and out of the audience - I like to break boundaries.”

Éric says that he has done similar collaborations with companies in South Africa, Mozambique and Madagascar. “What I like about this process is that my dancers go to another country and dancers from the other countries come and live with us in Reunion Island. They get to know what life is like in another place, and how people work - the issues and politics.”

Born in France, Éric’s parents moved to Reunion Island when he was eight. He began dance classes, going on to study at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Rueil-Malmaison (CRR), near Paris. He then danced with the Paris Opera Ballet before joining the RNZB, where he became a principal dancer. He also made his début as a choreographer with the company, creating works such as Drifting Angels and the full-length ballet Alice (in Wonderland).

After leaving the company he worked for a time in Australia, including working with Meryl Tankard at the Australian Dance Theatre, then he joined Lloyd Newson and DV8 Physical Theatre in London for three years. On his return to his home in Reunion Island he set up his own company, danses en l’R.

Éric says his time with Newson was inspirational, and although his work is different, the social themes are

As Footnote New Zealand Dance enters its 30th year with Bbeals (see main article), it is an opportune moment to reflect on the past and look forward as well. Founder Deirdre Tarrant has been at the heart of contemporary dance since the early 1980s: people who know her will also be aware that she is never short of words or insightful opinion. “That Footnote is still going strongly forward is a huge testament to the staying power of contemporary dance in New Zealand. In fact, few contemporary dancers in the country would not owe some part of their career experience to this amazing company.”

Footnote New Zealand Dance represents not only survival on the stage but crucially survival and commitment to the real source of creativity – the dancers, choreographers and musicians who have something to say and the belief and passion to say it through movement. 2015 will be a year that remembers and celebrates this unique milestone.

Highlights for this year have already included a record number of talented participants for Choreolab with a group of dancers chosen for ChoreoCo (Footnote’s annual short-term company), performing Just Bet/ween Us by Claire O’Neil at BATS in the New Zealand Fringe and

The Bosch Box by Lucy Marinkovich at Performance Arcade 2015.

Following Bbeals, Footnote will develop and present NOW 2015, its annual season for emerging New Zealand choreographers – this year featuring works from Anna Bate, Natalie Maria Clark, Jared Hemopo, and returning choreographer Katharina Waldner. A 30th Anniversary season between August and October will be curated and directed by Deirdre Tarrant. This season proposes to focus on the past decade of Forte works – all of which provided significant stepping stones for a company committed to taking risks. This performance will include moments of Here Lies Within (Raewyn Hill), Miniatures (Malia Johnston), Hullapolloi (Kate MacIntosh and Jo Randerson), Mtyland (Claire O'Neil), We have been there (Lisa Densem), and The Status of Being (Alexa Wilson), plus a new work for the current company by Malia Johnston.

The 30th anniversary celebrations will be centred on Footnote’s Wellington home, from 28–30 August 2015. In addition to the 30th Season performances, there will be opportunities for returning dancers (many of whom are still performing), a poster exhibition that honours the entire trajectory of the 30 years, a Pecha Kucha-style event and many opportunities for celebrating together. As Tarrant suggests, “Watch This Space is one of our company initiatives, but this year this phrase will be even more apt. Join us whenever and wherever you can to be part of this big birthday bash!”

30 years young

FOOTNOTE NEw ZEALAND DANCE

FEATurE

Page 8

ON SALE

NOW

MOSCOW BALLET‘LA CLASSIQUE’

GRAND INTERNATIONAL CONCERTS presents

SleepingBeautyBALLET’S MOST LOVED FAIRYTALE

GRAND-CONCERTS.COM

OAMARU 14, DUNEDIN 15, NELSON 18, BLENHEIM 19 & 20, TAURANGA 23, HAMILTON 24, ROTORUA 26, N PLYMOUTH 27,

TAUPO 28, NAPIER 29, P NORTH 31 MAY

CHRISTCHURCH 16 & 17 MAY ISAAC THEATRE ROYAL AUCKLAND 22 MAY BRUCE MASON

WELLINGTON 30 MAY OPERA HOUSE

similar. “My processes are quite similar to Lloyd Newson’s, although my aesthetics are different. I am more interested in seeing ‘people’ on stage, not ‘dancers’. My work is often physical theatre, and in some works performers speak as well as move.”

“What I like in dance theatre is movement and text together which creates a new meaning,” he says. “We use text and sometimes we give up the text and have just movement.” What he discovers is that sometimes a new meaning is created between the text and the movement. “Sometimes the movement actually says something completely different from the text but it creates an in-between kind of meaning which is interesting.”

Fresh from teaching 36 young dancers at Footnote’s annual Choreolab, Éric says he enjoys working with New Zealand dancers and their no-nonsense approach. “It was wonderful, they are really physical, and keen to go anywhere you want to take them. And naïve, but in a very good way, which means that they are not blasé, or cynical, or too intellectual, like some dancers in Europe. They try ideas out rather than talking about them.”

A tower of fun what a feelingCONTINuED...

Creating the magic

for your next promotional

campaign

Design, video, print and online production specialists.

www.fresco.co.nz

FEATurE

bbEALs – IN REHEARsAL