Movies from the silent era were the first images that came to me while watching the premiere of Gustavia, in the sumptuous Théâtre de Grammont, presented in the latest edition of the Montpellier Dance Festival, last July. The association was not random. For the joint creation, celebrated artists Mathilde Monnier and Maria La Ribot used comic elements that incite laughter and good humor in the audience, like those used in the movies of Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Oscarito, Peter Sellers, Tati, among many others. Scene after scene, in the black box that alludes both to theater and cinema, Gustavia is the art of transforming incompetence into competence, in the same way as gags and farse.
Driven by an interest in the burlesque, in women, in the age they currently are, in the curiosity of knowing, in history, in theater and in dance, the creators took 12 weeks to research (and invent) a body deep-rooted in excess, repetition and accident. Engaged in the video documentation of the creative process, La Ribot tells us: “since the first encounter, we didn´t know very well what we wanted or which could be our common interests, besides the obvious, and with almost no preparation before the premiere. We also had to find a work system.”
Many were the stages until Gustavia took form: “in the beginning, the basis was an idea of improvising at the moment, and we worked in duet. Then we went over to a different, more fun, method: first, one of us proposed something and the other observed, later the other continued the proposal and the first one observed, many times deconstructing, fragmenting, exaggerating, contradicting, minimizing each proposal. Soon after, the system became complex. We assured ourselves the basis of all material that was found came from both of us, applicable to a moment or other, that belonged to one or to another hierarchy and that, no doubt, it was susceptible to professional modifications, interpretation, changes and questionings. It was a very fun stage”, reveals the choreographer.
The composition of the show was the next enterprise and like any artistic process, however short it may be, suffered many transformations after an initial idea or image, according to LaRibot’s account: “Soon we started to build with everything we had, material came from one and from the other, already with a little more consideration, even if it was in a frantic, fast and dynamic rhythm. By the end of may, almost everything had been reconsidered. Some things remained the same as in the first days, but in general everything changed a thousand times (a lot!). Surprisingly, the relationship between us remains the same, each one by herself, (but) thinking about the other”.
Richness is difference*
Although having distinct paths and artistic contexts, Maria and Mathilde have known each other since 1987, when the French artist performed in Madrid. LaRibot remembers: “ it was the wonderful 80´s and the cultural life sizzled with festivals like Madrid en Danza. But it was from 1999 that our relationship got closer and the exchanges became more frequent until it culminated in the decision of creating something that ended up being Gustavia.”
“Mathilde and I are alike in many things. Basically, both of us became a choreographer at a young age, before going through the experience of being a performer for a long time. We both also have a good sense of practice. On the other hand, these similarities had a completely opposite vital and professional development, something that is very interesting to me. Mathilde has been an orphan since she was very young and I have very protective parents. Mathilde has known incredible success since her first piece, she has support and economic and professional resources to grow”, according to Maria, who has a very different history.
Cultural policies were the main reason for the differences. While the French government invested considerably in the development of dance in the 80’s and 90’s, implementing work opportunities, training and creation centers, specialized libraries and festivals; Spain hardly knew democracy and there were no regular and continuous investment in training, research or production. The projects had no continuity and depended on the passion of producers and collaborative partnerships. Mathilde and Maria were young and protagonists in their social and economic situation.
Since that time, besides having a solid production as a performer and choreographer, the French dancer currently directs ex.e.r.ce, a training program for professionals, at the Centre Chorégraphique National Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, among other activities. In 2008, out of the nine young artists selected for the program, two are Brazilian, Neto Machado and Thiago Granato. Located in the former Saint Gilles convent, founded in 1357, better known as the Ursulines Convent, because of the congregation that took charge of the building in 1641, the construction was restored and nowadays it hosts the CCNM and the Montpellier Danse, both were created by famous dancer and choreographer Dominique Bagouet, who passed away in 1992. Clicking in the link above, it is possible to see pictures of the place, which adopts a changing training program, reconsidered each year, but with clear purposes/principles: create, train, research, think and make contemporary dance.
Maria is from Madrid, but is currently living in Gevena, after six years in London. Her work changed the history of contemporary dance by regarding it as live art and creating pieces that are developed in the borders between contemporary dance and performance, visual arts and video. In the last decade, she developed a critical and humorous series called Proyecto Distinguido. Divided in 13 Piezas Distinguidas (1993), Más Distinguidas (1997) and Still Distinguised, short solos with duration ranging from 30 seconds to 7 minutes, in which the performer plays, ironizes, provokes and definetely has fun with objects, music, written messages ans also with silence. The body is a blank sheet (that is the reason for the insistence in the nude) and that is a main aspect of the performances. The “pieces” were regarded as goods in the art market and all of them were sold to “distinguised owners”, like Divana of the Más Distinguidas series, owned by Mathilde. Besides having their names by the title, the owners can watch the piece for free in any part of the world. In Brazil, she performed Más Distinguidas, in São Paulo, at SESC Pompéia and in Belo Horizonte, during the Festival Internacional de Dança in 2000 and “Despliegue” in 2002 at Itaú Cultural, also in São Paulo.
Side by side on the road
In the final scene of Gustavia, Mathilde & Maria are side by side, each on top of a bench, I mean, a pedestal. In a striptease of words, they gab, talking at the same time while making gestures to express the onomatopoeia and other expressions they use. The subject of their blabbering is themselves: women or a certain idea of femininity. The audience is entertained by phrases like: “it was such a big woman that you could put a horse inside her”, “women cut everything, they pluck hair, they wax”, “she had so much milk she could turn her breasts into machine guns, tah tah tah tah tah”, “had a huge hip on the left side and when she walked, paf paf paf”. Other lines allude to movements performed in the previous scenes, like “a woman comes in, takes her foot and puts it on her head”. Another phrase has a very peculiar sound in French “femme meure de faim” (woman starves to death).
After the premiere in the Montpellier Dance Festival and the presentation in Impulstanz, in Vienna (15-18/7), Gustavia was already a fully booked star, having performed in Dansens Hus, Stockholm (4-5/10); Centre Pompidou, Paris (15-19 & 22-26); the Festival Circular, Porto (27/10); Mercat de les Flors, Barcelona (21-23/11) and in Municipal Theaterin Perpignan, France (25/11).
If all goes well, the Brazilian audience will be able to watch the show that is to be part of the program of the year of France in Brazil, in 2009.
* translation of the expression taken from the song “Miséria”, by Brazilian band Titãs
Maíra Spanghero has PhD in Communication and Semiotics, is a professor at PUC/SP and author of the book “A dança dos encéfalos acesos” (Itaú Cultural, 2003). She also curates the Roda project and guest editor for Coleção Húmus.
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