Sophie Cadieux finishes her day of rehearsal at La Licorne, just a few hours before going to play a student of the Mutant.es, a play she co-wrote, at the Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui. Two shows which are not unrelated. “I think I have retained a lot of the stigma of childhood, if only in my voice and my energy, so I am very obsessed with what we become and what we leave behind,” explains the actress. When young, we sometimes have all the DNA of what we will become within us. That’s what Dance generation evoked. »
The designer wonders a lot about these stages of life. “Adolescence is an extremely decisive time. I think we can always go back there, like where we made a series of microchoices which [ont produit] who we are today. It’s a breeding ground that I still find very inspiring. And I dare to hope that I still have a little foot in it, even if my body moves away from it (laughs). »
Adolescence is an extremely decisive time. I think we can always go back there, like where we made a series of micro-choices which [ont produit] who we are today. It’s a breeding ground that I still find very inspiring.
No wonder La Manufacture chose her to lead Dance generation, especially since Cadieux did jazz ballet for several years during his childhood. The dramatic comedy by American Clare Barron follows a troupe of young people of around 13 years old – including only one boy – who train under the guidance of a demanding teacher (Sasha Samar), in preparation for a famous competition in Florida. They (here the feminine largely prevails) evolve between solidarity and rivalry, coveting the main role in the choreography. “It’s a falsely feel good, inspired a little by teenage dance films, with a competition, girls looking at each other: who will win? There is a very pop, exciting side, it’s like a kind of reality TV that we want to follow. And at the same time, there is something dull underneath. The balance between the two is really interesting. »
Implicitly, the text addresses the discovery of sexuality among these pre-adolescent girls, who rub shoulders in great intimacy. Both naively and crudely, they discuss their plans for the future, but also masturbation and sex, “without really knowing what they are talking about”.
The other interest of the play comes from the playwright’s unusual request: that these roles be played by adult performers, as if the 13-year-old characters were “haunted by the specters of what they will become”. A gap highlighting the particularity of this age, on the cusp between child and adult, mixing power and vulnerability? “I can’t answer for the author, but adolescence is a very cathartic moment when we experience things for the first time,” says Sophie Cadieux. All the emotions are heightened, the betrayals are tragic, even if sometimes the [enjeux] are less so. And putting that into the bodies of more mature women, it allows us to realize that we are made of all these little tragedies, of these little flaws. And in adolescence, we try to become someone, but in relation to others. So to place these girls in a kind of pack – Barron draws parallels with wolves – it densifies a fairly simple statement and brings it to a tragic side. The text autopsy the relationship with the body, the feeling of failure, the gaze of the other. And even the notion of success, which is often dismissed in sorority. One of the dancers is better than the others. Everyone is happy for her, but would like to be in her place. We talk aboutempowerment feminine, but is it possible without being to the detriment of the group? »
With this troupe where, writes the author, “pagan savagery and ferocity are essential”, the play draws up a “feminist ode” to feminine power, however full of questions. “These girls free themselves, in the end, from the gaze of others. But they are also defined in relation to each other. So there is a sisterhood, but it has its own little plots or betrayals. It means: become yourself and don’t be afraid to be strong [sans] feel guilty for doing it in front of other women. The message is complex. »
Alchemical process
The director wanted to compose the most diverse cast possible, both physically and in character. “And finally, I realized that I chose girls [c’est ainsi qu’elle nomme sa bande, y compris les deux hommes] who all have a lot of power, who do not let it be imposed on them. When I see them in a row, there is an almost rugby strength. It was an energy that I was looking for. »
Mireille Métellus, Thomas Derasp-Verge, Émilie Gilbert, Dominique Pétin, Clara Prieur, Pascale Renaud-Hébert, Tova Roy and Sally Sakho therefore play adolescents, without trying to imitate them. It’s about letting the traces of adolescence be seen: “the fervor, the innocence, a certain candor, of embracing the entirety of an emotion. It’s a text that requires a lot of technical precision — the dialogue is super dynamic, full of [chevauchements] — and at the same time a youthful energy, as well as a kind of acceptance of the actress which is there, unvarnished, when her character is just in neutral. »
For Cadieux, to bring the spectator to see a child and a woman in the same body, without “artifice other than the emotion which travels”, is a very mysterious process. “To take performers from 25 to 70 years old to portray teenagers, without making them play teenagers, but that we believe in the energy of youth and that at the same time, the maturity of their body always shines through, It’s really about alchemy. We sometimes have this momentary superposition where the person is in two places in their life, where a teenager and a woman coexist in one body. Therefore, the viewer must make several superimposed readings. »
The other challenge posed to the director is the dance numbers, performed by actresses who are not experienced dancers — a preference of the author. Except for Clara Prieur, the performers are neophytes in this art. They must “work on the perfection of the choreographies, but not become too good, to just obtain a uniqueness, where we see the effort and the will rather than the perfection of the gesture. It’s in the suggestion. They’ve been rehearsing the choreographies every day for two months, so they’re getting really good! It’s about finding the degree of execution. »
Sophie Cadieux had great pleasure imagining the dances, creating choreographies which are “pastiches” of video clips discovered on the Internet or numbers that she danced herself and finding physical gags.
The designer talks about her own experience in a jazz ballet troupe. “It was a community that I loved very much. I have never felt such a sporty side present in the room. But for me, it was a place of surpassing myself, of a gang too, very strong. Because you have to perform, find your place and at the same time, you are only as good as your team. So I find that the link with theater is really right. »