ensemble L'Abrupt : repertory

Pléiades Creation 2011

Conception and choreography : Alban Richard
Dancers : Céline Angibaud, Arnaud Cabias, Mélanie Cholet, Max Fossati, Laurie Giordan and Kevin Jean
Music : Pléiades by Iannis Xénakis © Editions SALABERT S.A.
A commission of the City of Strasbourg to les Percussions de Strasbourg
World premiere on 3 May 1979, in Mulhouse, for le Ballet du Rhin
Musicians : Les Percussions de Strasbourg : Jean-Paul Bernard (artistic director), Claude Ferrier, Bernard Lesage, Keiko Nakamura, Francois Papirer, Olaf Tzschoppe
Instruments set up : Laurent Fournaise, Claude Mathia
Light : Valérie Sigward
Costumes : Corine Petitpierre
Body's analyser in the danced motion : Nathalie Schulmann
Artistic assistant : Valérie Sigward
Duration : 1h
Production ensemble l'Abrupt, in collaboration with Les Percussions de Strasbourg
Coproduction : Montpellier Danse festival 2011, l'Arsenal of Metz, Théâtre d'Orléans, Théâtre Aragon Tremblay-en-France, National Choreographic Center of Caen, National Choreographic Center of Belfort, Arcadi (Action régionale pour la création artistique et la diffusion en Ile-de-France).
With support from le Conseil général de la Seine-Saint-Denis.
Thanks to La Ménagerie de Verre (Studiolab), the Centre national de la danse and l'Atelier de Paris-Carolyn Carlson for the lending of a studio.
This work benefits from the support of le Conseil général de la Seine-Saint-Denis and Arcadi/Action régionale pour la création artistique et la diffusion en Ile-de-France for its tours in Paris region.

The ensemble l'Abrupt is supported by the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles Ile de France / Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication under the title of aid to “compagnies conventionnées”, and it benefits from the support of Culturesfrance for its tours abroad.

The Percussions de Strasbourg are supported by the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles d'Alsace/ Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, the city of Strasbourg, the Région Alsace, the Conseil Général du Bas Rhin, the SACEM and the SPEDIDAM, and benefit from the support of Culturesfrance for their tours abroad.

Pléiades : a communal space of variations
Pléiades works with the principle of overlapping three distinct “scores”: the choreography, the music of Iannis Xénakis played live, and the lighting of Valérie Sigward.
Within distinct structures, indeed pulsing rhythms, each of these componants pursues the unifying objective of occupying a communal space by weaving together a hypnotic and energetic piece.
The idea is to find variations within a singular space without leaving this space, an exploration of formal coherence between the music and the dancers, between the body and the sonic specter in a voluntarily unstable and organic context. An expanding universe sculpts itself through collapse and alteration.
The work presents itself in four parts – Claviers, Métaux, Peaux and Mélanges – whose order is undetermined. These sections refer to the different types of percussion they employ. In Claviers, we have pitched, mallet percussion instruments (vibraphones, marimba, xylophone et xylorimba). Métaux (metals) is played on a new instrument whose tuning is unpitched and untempered, the six-xen, invented by Xenakis and built especially for this piece.
Peaux presents several tuned instruments made of skin (bass drum, bongos, tumba, tom-toms, timbales), whereas Mélanges brings together all the sonic materials of the piece.
The universe of Pléiades is directed by its rhythmic organization. The singular source of this polyrhythmic structure is the idea of periodicity, repetition, duplication, recurrence, faithful, semi-faithful, and unfaithful copy.
From small, continuous accelerations, to rapid transformations, or even brutal ruptures of these transformations, the different distortions overlap one another and give the impression of clouds and sonic galaxies all while carrying the listener into a whirlwind, a twisted universe. Alban Richard

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