Erection

• Duration: 45 min
• France
• For all
• 666 vues

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A man is stretched out, blending into a floor criss-crossed by black and white stripes. The light suddenly becomes blue and blinding as the man slowly attempts to sit up, and ultimately to stand, finally becoming ‘Homo Erectus’.

Pierre Rigal invites the audience to retrace human evolution, and the difficulties involved in getting vertical. A solo show explores ideas of man as animal, man as individual and man as social being, three versions of the same force aimed at getting upright. But what about life, or the future of the human race? Troublesome questions which appear to plague this strange acrobat.

This highly physical performance is enhanced by a stripped-down technological set-up which uses live-mixed sound and video effects to cut up and sculpt the performer’s movements, creating an immersive atmosphere. The lights and optical illusions run up against the sheer physicality of the dancer’s body, clashing, sliding, slipping and ultimately disappearing. In the process, the dancer becomes an elementary particle, caught in the light. His movements are imbued with an animalistic rawness, albeit hemmed in by a sense of rigour reflected in the angular environment, dominated by ruled lines and geometric figures.

It becomes immediately clear that this piece can be read on two levels: a parable of human evolution, but also a startlingly modern fable which transcends the advanced technology used in its creation.