B&W’ s | 2010 | 2012 – en

| DANSE | CRITIQUES

With Black Soul, Christian Ubl reveals a superb interpreter, Audrey Aubert, black star, supernova full of grace who illuminates a strangely wise piece…
First of all, a few points which, in our humble opinion, are wrong with this piece with a mysterious title, in Istrean patois, which does not retain the aesthetic requirements of the start until the end. The songs, in the original version without subtitles, also in this Newspeak close to Anglo-yogurt, are nice but sound more folk than rock, which is always a bit of a shame! And as soon as we approach the field of dance, whether in the neo-classical or contemporary sense of the term, we observe a rather restrained, agreed, wise gesture. It’s that… it’s not easy to innovate in general and in the field of the turn, the pas de deux or the lift in particular… That said, it must be recognized that the choreography is perfectly measured, ordered, structured. The sequences stand out with sharpness. Course and discourse are readable: we are in the clear line – the title will only really apply to the dual part of the finale of the piece, more nebulous and equivocal. Scenographically speaking, Christian Ubl lacks neither visual ideas nor gestural finds. And the work, even unfinished, is already working, it is undeniable. The gigantic Calderian mobile imagined by Emile Genoud takes some time to get going, but its kinetic effect is guaranteed. Nothing to say about the lighting, except that they certainly contribute to producing a feeling of strangeness. The SM option of the costumes, made in black lace, recalls the bracelets of strength, the Venusian furs, the complicated jabots, the balaclavas for wrestlers once imagined by Jean-Paul Gautier for the Façade of Régine Chopinot. They add a precise and precious connotation to the ambiguous character of the dancer-wrestler embodied by the bearded choreographer himself. The good surprise of the evening will have been the discovery of a female performer of rare grace and photogeny: Audrey Aubert. By her mere immobile, silent presence, when, at the beginning of the piece, for the time of a single, a 45 rpm or the regulation 2’35 of happiness, her voice is broadcast in playback, the singer-dancer-actress instantly stirs up confusion, quickly provokes excitement, immediately fascinates his audience. She takes the tray and will not leave it during the thirty minutes that the set lasts. Radiant, Audrey Aubert occupies the stage, moves slowly, sits on the linoleum, near a pillar, garden side. With elegance, she lies on her back, raises one knee, rotates her body soberly concealed in a light dress. She takes off casually, neither seen nor known, her Crazy girl wig, extends an arm, takes a hieratic pose. Another dress, perched on a hanger, dries under the sunlights. We have already said what we thought of the lifts. The hooded-headed choreographer-athlete has no trouble lifting the frail dancer. He gently rests the porcelain body of his beautiful partner at the end of each of these figures that he thought fit to impose. After a while, we finally witness an interesting passage where the young dancer repeats the same gesture over and over again and gives the impression of bouncing on an imaginary trampoline. After a few scratches of dry guitar, we are entitled to the solo of the young people, the dancer then being out of frame. The variation is dark… To the tune of Don’t Drop Me…, Audrey puts her wig back on, turns her back on the spectators and exits through the back, courtyard side.

by Nicolas VILLODRE | 1 oct. | 17 oct. 2009