François Chaignaud
Cecilia Bengolea DFS

What do Jamaican Dancehall, traditional singing from Georgia and dancing on points have in common? François Chaignaud and Cecilia Bengolea take great delight in unusual associations. Since 2005, they have been calling upon a diverse range of cultures and techniques of the body. From dances belonging to the period between the two wars translated into modern, sylphlike forms, and from classic classical ballet to urban dances, the elements of dance that they gather up enter into a joyous form of onstage dialogue.

This creation is an extension of a unique adventure. In 2015, François Chaignaud and Cecilia Bengolea were amongst the first choreographers, since the death of Pina Bausch, to be invited to create a new work for the Tanztheater Wuppertal. Under their direction, the troupe became a choir, started rapping, learnt a Jamaican choreography, and the festive atmosphere that The Lighters’ Dancehall Polyphony brought to Pina Bausch’s stage received rave reviews in the international press. With three ultra-versatile dancers, they now pick up on the thread of the work they started in Germany. Whilst François Chaignaud explores traditional and medieval Georgian polyphonic chanting, Cecilia Bengolea will be feeding off her recent experiences in Jamaica. Dancehall, born half a century ago, with its reggae influences, is both a respected technique and outlet for subversive behaviour. At the crossroads between different forms, this new collaboration between the two choreographers seeks to melt song and dance into a single, heteroclitic form of writing - a challenge of a profoundly humanist nature, taken up with ample doses of humour.