Performance

Created at La Station – Gare des Mines (Paris) in September 2020, during the brief window of activity for cultural venues between lockdowns, this three-person performance is inhabited by the ghosts of the throng, the community and collective joy.

Although this performance features three protagonists from Crowd – Sophie Demeyer, Katia Petrowick and Theo Livesey –, it appears as a sort of negative of this previous work, defined by a lack of crowds and a vital craving for group dynamics. All of Gisèle Vienne’s work conveys a political message, expressed through formal research and through its artistic and philosophical substance, challenging culturally constructed perceptions and their potential shifts. This way of working is a direct and visceral means of treating immediate and profound pain: the pain felt by bodies inhibited and constrained by political action and systems of domination. A representation of absent bodies, the performance revolves around the question, framed by the psychologist Professor Bernard Rimé, of sharing emotions in a social context, the need for crowds and the dangers of desocialization. Among the promises of this performance are the ability to come together once again, to occupying public areas and alternative venues as an essential creative space.

Vincent Théval for the Festival d’Automne à Paris

Photo : © Henrike Stahl