LA MÉCANIQUE DES OMBRES

It’s all about trying.

The outcome – the recurring motif in writing – as well as the physical experience of falling, define the means of coming together, the means of creating the necessity to do so. Be it in mechanical engineering or in an acrobatic movement, this trio writes the story of a small budding humanity.

Three dancer-acrobats, three identical figures, amnesic of their condition, move about with an almost absurd perseverance in order to rediscover the underlying codes of human relationships. With their faces hidden, the conditions of empathy shift and the path towards otherness is tirelessly rebuilt.

A fantastically expressive trio of virtuosos getting tangled and untangled – somewhere between dance and acrobatics – Dazzling! | La Croix

Three male figures – jeans, hoodies, their faces hidden by black fabric – dance on a white-edged square stage.
Is it dance? Or perhaps it’s “falling” with such elegance that it takes your breath away. If movement is merely a series of mastered and refined falls, well, these three performers have perfected the art of falling. […]

They are poets of the human body. It leaves you astounded, bewitched and slightly troubled. Between shadow and light, falling
and suspension, flight and crash, Naïf Production signs an uncompromising complex masterpiece. | Rhinocéros

La Mécanique des Ombres is a performance of rare intelligence. The choreography, direction and music interlock with grace as it delves into the question of identity. Beyond its plastic aesthetic, the “empty” figure absorbs and deranges to a point where everyone gets emotionally attached and undeniably shaken up. | Le bruit du Off

Choreography, directors and performers: Sylvain Bouillet, Mathieu Desseigne-Ravel & Lucien Reynès | Dramaturgy:  Sara Vanderieck | Sound design and live electronic music: Christophe Ruetsch | Light design: Pauline Guyonnet | Costumes: Natacha Costechareire

Production: Naïf Production | Co-production: Théâtre Jean Vilar de Vitry-sur-Seine,, MC93 Bobigny, Espace Périphérique – Mairie de Paris, Parc de la Villette, LE CENTQUATRE – Paris. With the support from: Agora, Cité Internationale de la danse de Montpellier, and the CDCN Les Hivernales à Avignon as well as from DRAC PACA, Région PACA, Conseil départemental du Val-de-Marne and SPEDIDAM.