Bending the body, bending the mind
Noemi Zarb meets up with Marion Sancellier, the French choreographer who is working on the ambitious project of retelling the Old Testament on stage
"We are capable of saying a lot with the body, a lot that we're not able to put into words," are the unsurprising words of French choreographer Marion Sancellier. But the vehemence in her tone hits you all the more as her penetrating blue-grey eyes light up with her enthusiasm for theatre and dance as well as palpable joie de vivre. (She wishes for more time though to enjoy chilling out and swimming in the Med.) Confronting these two languages is something that intrigues me a lot... body and mind are intrinsically tied to each other."
And we're in for an unusual corporeal poetry in Lust and Order, the upcoming second episode of the Old Testament project which this time zeroes in on the enthralling stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Rachel, Joseph and his brothers. But dump any visions of naturalistic theatre or a large-scale production reminiscent of Biblical epic movies. In fact, although a substantial chorus had brought the first episode, Creation, to life, Lust and Order is pinned on a deliberately small cast of six budding actors who will be projecting thought-provoking archetypal images of families as they bind or tear down their blood ties.
A member of the French company Préface, Ms Sancellier is exploiting her own interpretation of Meyerhold's concept of biomechanics to highlight both the rivetting moments of a chilling near-murder, love, betrayal - and the universal emotions involved. "This method was invented in the decades after the Russian Revolution by theatre director Vsevolod Meyerhold and may be considered revolutionary as well. It is based on the development of movement from a clearly defined origin to a clearly defined target point. And, of course, I bring in all my personal experiences from rehearsing and touring with Préface."
Ms Sancellier has been working with the Champagne Ardenne-based company for three years and cites its director, Sylvain Chiarelli, as her mentor. But her formative years at the Conservatoire de Dijon also honed her sensitivity to the expressive power of poses, gestures and movements, particularly the workshops of Commedia dell'Arte and Biomechanics held by the well-known Carlo Boso and Genadi Bogdanov respectively. Significantly Meyerhold was highly influenced by the vocabulary of the Commedia dell'Arte which isn't as impromptu as many people believe.
Having met director Björn Potulski in Paris last January while casting actors for his Franco-German theatre company to produce The Lights Are Going Out All Over Europe, Ms Sancellier readily accepted his invite to work on the Old Testament Project. "Touring The Lights in February and March meant going through thick and thin. Since we understand each other very well, it was easy for me to say 'yes' when Björn asked me to do the choreography for this production. Moreover, we are working as a team that is considering everybody's contribution to be relevant and valuable. I can't stand authoritarian attitudes in theatre - you lose so much by listening just to one voice. Our work is based on an ensemble that we consider to be on a journey without having clearly predefined the destination. We aim to proudly present what we have found on the way. Of course, it is the director's job to take the final decisions and it's my task to make concrete suggestions how to form the material that we find. Fortunately our communication in this regard is very open and not at all blocked by vain attitudes."
Ms Sancellier's involvement has yet another edge because she also stars as the femme fatale within the tight group of Father, Mother, Elder Brother, Younger Brother, Happy Sister and Unhappy Sister. The challenge is to make the contemporary take work on stories which ring a very distant bell indeed, and therefore show that the Old Testament is not such remote territory after all. But Ms Sancellier is optimistic.
"It is within the nature of real art to be a universal means of expression. In French we call this a 'language', including both verbal and non-verbal communication. I aim to work in a theatre that designates a language that transcends cultural barriers. The theatrical representation will be a real exchange between the audience and the stage, not just a dead end roa
• Lust and Order is being staged at the MITP courtyard on August 24-26. Each performance begins at 9 p.m. Tickets may be obtained online at www.the-old-testament.eu or at the door. The performance will be followed by a discussion on inter-religious and intercultural relations.
And we're in for an unusual corporeal poetry in Lust and Order, the upcoming second episode of the Old Testament project which this time zeroes in on the enthralling stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Rachel, Joseph and his brothers. But dump any visions of naturalistic theatre or a large-scale production reminiscent of Biblical epic movies. In fact, although a substantial chorus had brought the first episode, Creation, to life, Lust and Order is pinned on a deliberately small cast of six budding actors who will be projecting thought-provoking archetypal images of families as they bind or tear down their blood ties.
A member of the French company Préface, Ms Sancellier is exploiting her own interpretation of Meyerhold's concept of biomechanics to highlight both the rivetting moments of a chilling near-murder, love, betrayal - and the universal emotions involved. "This method was invented in the decades after the Russian Revolution by theatre director Vsevolod Meyerhold and may be considered revolutionary as well. It is based on the development of movement from a clearly defined origin to a clearly defined target point. And, of course, I bring in all my personal experiences from rehearsing and touring with Préface."
Ms Sancellier has been working with the Champagne Ardenne-based company for three years and cites its director, Sylvain Chiarelli, as her mentor. But her formative years at the Conservatoire de Dijon also honed her sensitivity to the expressive power of poses, gestures and movements, particularly the workshops of Commedia dell'Arte and Biomechanics held by the well-known Carlo Boso and Genadi Bogdanov respectively. Significantly Meyerhold was highly influenced by the vocabulary of the Commedia dell'Arte which isn't as impromptu as many people believe.
Having met director Björn Potulski in Paris last January while casting actors for his Franco-German theatre company to produce The Lights Are Going Out All Over Europe, Ms Sancellier readily accepted his invite to work on the Old Testament Project. "Touring The Lights in February and March meant going through thick and thin. Since we understand each other very well, it was easy for me to say 'yes' when Björn asked me to do the choreography for this production. Moreover, we are working as a team that is considering everybody's contribution to be relevant and valuable. I can't stand authoritarian attitudes in theatre - you lose so much by listening just to one voice. Our work is based on an ensemble that we consider to be on a journey without having clearly predefined the destination. We aim to proudly present what we have found on the way. Of course, it is the director's job to take the final decisions and it's my task to make concrete suggestions how to form the material that we find. Fortunately our communication in this regard is very open and not at all blocked by vain attitudes."
Ms Sancellier's involvement has yet another edge because she also stars as the femme fatale within the tight group of Father, Mother, Elder Brother, Younger Brother, Happy Sister and Unhappy Sister. The challenge is to make the contemporary take work on stories which ring a very distant bell indeed, and therefore show that the Old Testament is not such remote territory after all. But Ms Sancellier is optimistic.
"It is within the nature of real art to be a universal means of expression. In French we call this a 'language', including both verbal and non-verbal communication. I aim to work in a theatre that designates a language that transcends cultural barriers. The theatrical representation will be a real exchange between the audience and the stage, not just a dead end roa
• Lust and Order is being staged at the MITP courtyard on August 24-26. Each performance begins at 9 p.m. Tickets may be obtained online at www.the-old-testament.eu or at the door. The performance will be followed by a discussion on inter-religious and intercultural relations.