Presentation

From 2023, Cuir will be a production carried by Les halles de Schaerbeek in Brussels. For more information, please contact Anaïs Longieras – diffusion.armour@gmail.com.

In a powerful body-to-body confrontation, two harnessed men play at manipulating each other’s bodies. The cautious pleasure they take in transforming each other into an instrument, an apparatus, a playground or a battlefield engages them in a struggle with mutual consent. Between traction and attraction, they do not aim for power over the other, but rather power with the other.

statement of intent

In Cuir, Arno Ferrera and Gilles Polet seek to maintain a relationship of person to person, which does not call for a conflicting confrontation, nor a win-lose relationship. One may want to subordinate the other, to force him to follow, to impose a situation on him, but the other may also be in a state of acceptance, in a willingness to follow this obligation. Both men then enjoy their positions, with consent, without any hierarchy. To do this, they explore the capacities of their bodies with the help of equestrian harnesses, usually reserved for draught work and ploughing. The strength thus acquired allows them to be gentle. Not only does the harness amplify the potential of human traction, but it is also an illuminator. Through the physical commitment to serving others with this archaic tool, the two acrobats seek a state where instinct and will become visible and tangible.

Team and partners

Creators : Arno Ferrera, Mika Lafforgue and Gilles Polet
Artistic direction : Arno Ferrera
Performers : Arno Ferrera and Gilles Polet

External eye : Paola Rizza
Choreographic eye : Benjamin Kahn
Sound adviser : Amaury Vanderborght
With complicity of : Alexandre Fray

Light designer : Florent Blanchon
Light and sound technician : Pierre-Jean Faggiani
Saddler : Jara Buschhoff
Costumes design : Jennifer Defays

Administration, production, booking : Caroline Cardoso, Lou Henry & Anaïs Longiéras

Photography : Valérie Frossard
Video : Romain Vennekens
Press relations : Estelle Laurentin
Graphic design : Ekta

Production : Un loup pour l’homme

Coproduction : Le Bateau Feu, SN Dunkerque (FR), Theater op De Markt, Neerpelt (BE), Larural, Créon (FR), Perspectives Sarrebruck (DE).

Support : Conseil Régional Hauts-de-France, SACD / Processus Cirque, Fonds Transfabrik (fonds franco-allemand pour le spectacle vivant). Un loup pour l’homme is supported by French Ministry of Culture / Direction régionale des affaires culturelles Hauts-de-France. Un loup pour l’homme is member of FILAGE (Lille, FR).

Partners residencies : Tanzhaus Zurich (CH), Theater op De Markt Neerpelt (BE), L’échalier St Agil (FR), Larural Créon (FR), Le Moulin du Roc SN de Niort (FR), Latitude 50 pôle arts du cirque et de la rue Marchin (BE), Le Prato Pôle National Cirque de Lille (FR), Katapult Berlin (DE), La Faïencerie & La Locomotive Creil (FR)

Presentation

Six acrobats trying to keep a permanent, right off-balance state.

They put together their bodies, tangle their arms and legs, seek strange forms, and never cease to reach their off-balance state by trying harder, by failing, by starting from scratch while trying to take their moves further and make them more complex, perhaps even stranger… They use obstacles to their benefit, while putting into practice their abilities to avoid them, to look away from them, to absorb them. In short, they transform them and use them.

They repeat loops in a cyclic manner, but always in a slightly different way. Every attempt to keep balance is illusory. Only constant transformation is permanent. For Rare Birds’ acrobats, it is not about finding a point of equilibrium or creating figures, but rather the opposite, it is about always trying to look for an evolution of movements and being their protagonists. They develop forms that turn into something else continuously and in an unexpected way, thus provoking a series of reactions, whose brilliance lies elsewhere other than in the spectacular.

After having explored humans’ struggles and resistance with Face Nord, Un Loup pour l’Homme starts from the new premise that acrobats are men with the ability to adapt. What matters is no longer to win or lose, but to keep on.
In a way, to carry on playing…

Statement of Intent

“Acrobats are men with the ability to adapt.
Going from being a mineral to becoming a plant / from resistance to endurance / from being an oak to turning into a reed.

Submitting rather than resisting.
Singing the praises of adaptation and transformation.
Being part of an evolution within a reasonable time-frame and length.

Acrobatic lifts and mobility: to reconsider space and the length of figures.                                                                Flow, suppleness, transformation and conservation of energy.

Adapting structures, moving points of support. Appropriateness of forms and functions.
To raise again the question of circus figures in terms of length. Not as an instant feat, but as a motif that evolves in time.

To always seek energy efficiency. Maximum efficiency with minimum effort.

“Less sugar”, not for the purpose of reaching slowness, but rather to gather speed.

The lighter, the faster. Moving towards acrobatic exercises that are sustainable and respectful with our bodies.

Precision and writing

To cultivate the taste for precision, or even the desire for perfection.

To strive for a perfect loss of balance.

To seek the essence of our practices within their simplicity, their obviousness, their piercing brilliance.
Perhaps, in a way, to think about the rare and fragile characteristics of beauty.

To write and compose while preserving the real character of circus dynamics, even the most precise one.
To maintain this state of presence, of nakedness, of acuteness particular to circus.

“The condition to the fabulous lies in being concrete”

Alexandre Fray, notes on Rare Birds, 2016

Team and partners

Creators performers Alexandre FRAY, Arno FERRERA, Mika LAFFORGUE, Sergi PARÉS, Frédéri VERNIER, Špela VODEB
Artistic Direction Alexandre FRAY
Artistic Co-ordination Miriam KOOYMAN
External perspective Floor van LEEUWEN
Dramaturgy Bauke LIEVENS
Sound design Jan BENZ & Steffen LOHREY
Lighting design Florent BLANCHON
Costumes Jennifer DEFAYS
Technical direction Pierre-Jean FAGGIANI & Laurent MULOWSKY
Administration Caroline MAERTEN
Diffusion Lou HENRY
Acknowledgements Jan STEEN, Jozef FRUCEK & Linda KAPETANEA / Rootlessroot.

Production Compagnie Un Loup pour l’Homme
Coproduction Plateforme 2 Pôles Cirque en Normandie / La Brèche à Cherbourg-en-Cotentin – Cirque-Théâtre d’Elbeuf ; Culture Commune / Scène Nationale du Bassin Minier du Pas-de-Calais ; CIRCa, Pôle National Cirque, Auch Gers Occitanie ; le Tandem Scène Nationale Arras/Douai ; le Bateau Feu – Scène Nationale Dunkerque ; Théâtre Firmin Gémier / La Piscine – Pôle National des Arts du Cirque d’Antony et de Châtenay-Malabry ; Le Manège – Scène Nationale Reims ; Theater op de Markt – Neerpelt ; Cirque Jules Verne – PNC / Pôle National Cirque et Arts de la rue / Amiens ; Fabrik – Potsdam ; Festival Perspectives – Festival Franco-Allemand des Arts de la Scène – Sarrebrück ; La Villette ; Association Rue des Arts, with support from DRAC Bretagne ; Festival Pisteurs d’étoiles / Espace Athic, Obernai.
Support Ministère de la culture et de la communication DGCA – Direction générale de la création artistique ; DRAC Hauts de France ; Région Hauts de France ; Région Ile de France ; Fonds Transfabrik – Fonds franco-allemand pour le spectacle vivant. ADAMI. Un Loup pour l’Homme is a member of Filage.

Tour (2017 - 2021)

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The project

Standing in front of us, four women engage into playful acrobatic games in which they constantly invent the rules. Walking, running, catching, grabbing, climbing, climbing further, always moving forward…

«Knowing you will lose does not prevent from struggling», as these four acrobats tell us, obstinately obliging themselves to the feat and relishing each challenge, taking us together with their bodies to the limits of their physiological reality and at the edges of the laws of physics.

With a script written as rules of a game, Face Nord is an attempt to revive in (wo)mankind the playful innocence of a child, hence the origins and essential values of our acrobatic quest.

Face Nord had a premiere in 2011 with four men (Alexandre Fray, Frédéric Arsenault, Sergi Parés and Mika Lafforgue) and since then, has performed more than 250 times. By passing on this show to a female cast, Un loup pour l’homme wishes to see how this script, evoking struggle, resistance and sport imaginary, can evolve with four women’s bodies.

Team and partners

With Sanna Kopra, Lotta Paavilainen (or Spela Vodeb), Stina Kopra and Mira Leonard

Artistic direction of the re-staging Alexandre Fray, Sergi Parés, Pierre Déaux

Original Creation 2011 by Fred Arsenault, Alexandre Fray, Pierre Déaux (with on stage:  Mika Lafforgue and Sergi Parés)

Dramaturgy Bauke Lievens

Sound design Jean-Damien Ratel

Light design Thierry Robert

Costumes Emmanuelle Grobet

Technical team Pierre-Jean Faggiani and Sylvain Mege

Administration & Tour management Caroline Cardoso and Lou Henry

Production Un Loup pour l’Homme

With financial support from DRAC Hauts-de-France, Conseil Régional Hauts-de-France and Mairie de Lille

And support from La Batoude Centre des Arts du Cirque et de la Rue Beauvais, La Central del Circ Barcelona,  Théâtre Jean Vilar Vitry-sur-Seine

Tour (2018-2020)

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The project

Ride & Camp was a travelling project for 2019 which has consisted of getting in touch with partners from Central and South-Eastern Europe to create forums for dialogue and artistic initiatives.

It was all about being on the road and connecting our starting point with several destinations of Central and South-Eastern Europe (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Albania, Kosovo, Switzerland…), by taking with us what constitutes the company “Un loup pour l’homme”: its members, shows, vehicles, know-how, interest in new encounters and sharing as well as its natural taste for celebration.

We were meeting energies, organizations, artists, institutions, here and there. The point was to get to know those who would like to support emergence of contemporary circus in this region. We participated to the global movement by accompanying the development of activities and projects that local actors are implementing, by planting new seeds, encouraging new possible paths.

With our local partners, we created forums of artistic meetings and present our shows, organise workshops, ensure togetherness and make sure we were visible as much as possible and attract the most people at each one of our events. We also encouraged contact with the local community.

Ride&Camp has been led and produced by Un loup pour l’homme, with general support from Teatroskop (a programme initiated by French Institute, Ministry of Culture and Communication and Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs), City of Lille and Région Hauts-de-France within the framework of their partnership with French Institute. Un loup pour l’homme is conventioned by DRAC Hauts-de-France (French Ministry of Culture).

Calendar

November-December 2017
Contact with partners of the cities perceived as our main stopovers, project co-elaboration

January-August 2018 
Preparation and production of the prefiguration project
Contact with the partners of other stopover cities

September 2018
Prefiguration of “Ride & Camp” in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia.

October 2018
Prefiguration assessment and re-writing of the project and action plan for “Ride & Camp 2019”

November 2018 – July 2019
Preparation and production of the project “Ride & Camp 2019”

May 2019  

RIDE & CAMP – Step 1 – Zagreb (Croatia)
> step co-organized with Cirkobalkana team, group of companies working for  circus developement in the Balkans : Cirkorama (Zagreb, Croatia), Cirkusfera (Belgrade, Serbia) and Čarobnjakov Šešir (Pula, Croatia)
>With support of French Institute of Croatia and ZPC – Zagrebački Plesni Centar.
> Circle of creativity project is organized with Cirkorama (Zagreb, Croatia), Cirkusfera (Belgrade, Serbia) and Cirkokrog (Ljubljana, Slovenia) with support from the European Commission (Erasmus+ programme)

June and July 2019
RIDE & CAMP – Step 2 – 3 weeks
>Celje (Slovenia) with French Institute of Slovenia, Muzofil, Municipality of Celje and Zavod Celeia
>Novi Sad (Serbia) with Infant festival and Serbian National Theater, with support of French Insti-tute of Serbia
> Pula (Croatia) with festival PUF
> Split (Croatia) with Room 100
> Tirana (Albania) with French Embassy in Albania and Municipality of Tirana
> Pristina (Kosovo) with Oda Teater and HAPU festival

September – october 2019
RIDE & CAMP – Step 3 – 1 month ½
>Tirana (Albania) with French Embassy in Albania and National Circus of Albania
>Belgrade (Serbia) a step co-organised with team of CirkoBalkana, in cooperation of festival BITEF and French Institute of Serbia. The project Circle of Creativity is organised in partnership with Cirkusfera (Serbia), Cirkorama (Croatia) and Cirkokrog (Slovenia).
>Novi Sad (Serbia) with Kultura Nova and OPENS 2019, European capital of youth
>Timisoara (Romania) with The Serious Road Trip / Scoala de Circ Timisoara, French Institute of Romania, and Timisoara 2021, European capital of culture
>Rijeka (Croatia) with festival Periskop
>Arogno (Switzerland) with Cultural Commission of Arogno
>Ste Croix (Switzerland) with the company Ici-bas and school Lezarti’cirque
>Pesmes (France) with Les Forges de Pesmes

October–December 2019
Assessment of “Ride & Camp”, in relation to our project partners.

Presentation

Standing in front of us, four men advance and put into play the sure strength and power of their living bodies, in the masculine and sensual exaltation of some sort of fighting spirit. Their path is an obstacle course, made up of surprising and playful acrobatic games in which they constantly invent the rules. Walking, running, catching, grabbing, climbing, climbing further, always moving forward…

«Knowing you will lose does not prevent from struggling», as these four acrobats tell us, obstinately obliging themselves to the feat and relishing each challenge, taking us together with their bodies to the limits of their physiological reality and at the edges of the laws of physics.

With a script written as rules of a game, FACE NORD is an attempt to revive in mankind the playful innocence of a child, hence the origins and essential values of our acrobatic quest.

Team and partners

Acrobats : Alexandre Fray, Mika Lafforgue, Fred Arsenault (or Arno Ferrera) & Sergi Parés
Artistic direction : Un loup pour l’homme & Pierre Déaux
Dramaturgy : Bauke Lievens
Sound design : Jean-Damien Ratel
Light design : Thierry Robert
Costumes : Emmanuelle Grobet
Technic : Pierre-Jean Faggiani, Laurent Mulowsky
Administration and tour management : Caroline Maerten, Lou Henry

Production : Compagnie Un loup pour l’homme
Coproductions : L’Hippodrome de Douai – Le Bateau Feu / Scène nationale Dunkerque – Festival Theater Op de Markt, Neerpelt (Belgique) – Cirque théâtre d’Elbeuf, Centre des arts du cirque de Haute-Normandie – Le Sirque, Pôle Cirque de Nexon en Limousin – EPPGHV, La Villette, Paris – Equinoxe – Scène nationale de Châteauroux
Public partners : DRAC Nord pas de calais – Région Nord pas de calais – DGCA

Tour (2011-2020)

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Présentation

Appris par corps is a show for two acrobats. With a broaden vision of hand to hand balancing, this piece is questioning the relationship between two people, through the filter of this peculiar couple made of a base and a flyer. These two male bodies is ambiguously navigating from tenderness to violence, from wish to mingle to temptation to escape to the obligation of this almost twin-link, connecting them irremediably.

“In this show, two men face each other and challenge their relationship. They lead us through the turmoils of intimacy, where bonds become loose, where the boundaries between love and death intertwine.
Through their movements, borrowing from dance, drama and circus, an intense but fragile relationship is at stake, which echoes Nature. The hand to hand technique becomes a language of its own, a sort of cryptogram needing to be sounded out in order to understand its sensitive alphabet.
It’s a story about brotherhood, about two beings, lonely but strongly united by their own fights, hope and almost twin-like interdependency.
This acrobatic duet calls for union, while teaching to accept one’s own loneliness and our differences”
Arnaud Anckaert, october 2007

Team and partners

Collective writing : Arnaud Anckaert, Frédéric Arsenault, Alexandre Fray
Acrobats : Alexandre Fray, Frédéric Arsenault
Stage direction : Arnaud Anckaert
Light and stage design : Frantz Loustalot
Technical direction : Cécile Hérault
Sound design : Hervé Herrero
Choreographical eye : Mathilde Van Volsem
Costumes : Flora Loyau
Administration : Peggy Donck

Production : Compagnie Un loup pour l’homme 
Coproductions : Festival Theater Op de Markt, Neerpelt (Belgique), Equinoxe – Scène nationale de Châteauroux, Culture Commune – Scène nationale du bassin minier du Pas de Calais, Les Migrateurs / associés pour les Arts du Cirque, Jeunes Talents Cirque, Espace Périphérique – Paris, TOHU – cité des arts du cirque de Montréal
Acknowledgment : Centre régional des arts du cirque de Lomme, Le Prato – Théâtre International de Quartier, CIE HENDRICK VAN DER ZEE

Tour (2007-2014)

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