After two years of cancellation, FUDGE, the Universal Festival of Awesome Dance for Children, will finally come to life. In Sherbrooke, from June 6 to 12, FUDGE promises not only shows, from here and elsewhere, but also workshops and a day for professionals.
“I’ve been thinking about doing an international festival for young audiences since 1996, but at that time, the company was not yet solid enough to embark on such an adventure”, confides Francine Châteauvert, artistic director of the festival and the company. Surge for nearly 35 years. “After many years of artistic practice and multiple encounters with young people, this idea has turned into a concrete desire to create an event to highlight the specificity of dance for young audiences and to give visibility to this discipline. . »
It was essential for M.me Châteauvert that this idea materializes in Sherbrooke. “It’s important that there are international festivals outside the major centres. FUDGE is confirmation that creation in dance for young audiences is very much alive and has its place in the region…” she explains. In addition to Sursaut, which has been there since 1985, Sherbrooke hosts several other organizations for young audiences, including Le Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke and Côté Scène, a dance and theater presenter for young audiences. In addition, a place for young people should also see the light of day in 2023.
Convey messages
On the program for this first edition, FUDGE offers five shows, including two from abroad. This is the case of November, by the Spanish choreographer Roser López Espinosa. Since 2015, she has been working for young audiences, a “natural” step in her professional career, which began nearly 15 years ago. “Creating for children really came to me. Some of my pieces, which I created for the general public, were very popular with young people. They identified with it very quickly,” recalls the artist from Barcelona. For FUDGE, she therefore presents her piece November, in which she disseminates several values “which are dear to her”. “It’s about the love of the game, of being together, of knowing how to collaborate, to help each other and to have fun in a group,” she explains. Also, it was important for me to show that men and women can play the same roles. »
Morgane Le Tiec, who took over the artistic direction of Sursaut last January, is also involved in the festival, but as a performer. A great first for the artist, who arrived in Quebec 10 years ago to dance with the Ballets jazz de Montréal. “As a performer, I find that there is no difference between performing in a show for children or for adults. I enter the world of a choreographer, in a character, and I wonder about what should be transmitted as a story, as a message, through my movements,” she explains.
It will be found in particular in Mellemrumcreation in situ imagined by Danish choreographer Kitt Johnson. A guide takes viewers on a journey to seven different locations, where seven performances are delivered. « Kitt [Johnson] really explore the territory, the topography of the place, the people who live there, etc. From there, we let ourselves be inspired, ”continues M.me The Tiec. For this process, two Abenaki speakers came to talk to the interpreters to let them know about their culture and the past of these various places.
Morgane Le Tiec will also dance in Idan Cohen’s play, Let the Games Begin!, where she will play an artist, painter and sculptor, who creates dolls to feel less alone. “It’s a great story for children, but also for adults. It’s touching,” she said.
“No secret recipe”
For Francine Châteauvert, a few “basic” technical elements help create a show for young audiences. For example, it is necessary to avoid exceeding 50 minutes of performance or to make interruptions that are too long. “Of course they have a more limited attention span,” she confirms.
For meme López Espinosa, the circus and acrobatic aspect of his work attracts young audiences and allows them to “stay attentive”. “I like working with fluidity, floor work and fairly complex choreography,” she says. It allows a dynamic, exciting result, and young people like that! »
However, as far as creation as such is concerned, there is no secret recipe for creating a show for young audiences, according to the artistic director of the festival. With the Sursaut company, with which she has traveled across Canada since its inception and the world for more than 10 years, she realized that there is no unanimity in dance, nor in art in general. . “With young audiences, we want the plays to be loved by everyone. But it never is. Same thing for adult shows! A show cannot be appreciated by all, it is impossible. Everyone has their sensitivity,” she explains.
“The children are very honest and clear in their way of thinking,” says Roser Lopez Espinosa. When I think of a creation for children, I wonder above all about the logic of the piece. This must be strong, coherent, as for the relationships between the characters. The choreographer also admits that she uses a lot of humor in her pieces when she is addressing the youngest. “It’s a fantastic tool, a very effective vehicle for understanding things, and it’s always good to laugh! ” she says.
For all these years, Francine Châteauvert has understood that closeness with children was the key to her work. “It has to be accessible, but without falling into the easy. We must not take children for lala babies, we must honor their intelligence. They can take the abstract, the poetic. They are very capable of going there, beyond a classic narration,” she adds. Same observation on the side of M.me Le Tiec, who is gradually learning to take over from Mme Chateauvert. “You can appreciate dance without really understanding it. And children, just like adults for that matter, will assimilate a show in their own way,” she says.
For meme Châteauvert, the fact of “keeping a child’s soul” also makes it possible to create for the youngest. “We do a lot of workshops with young people to stimulate their creativity, and the things they create are really inspiring,” she says. For Sursaut’s next creations, Morgane Le Tiec will be at the helm. She draws a lot of inspiration from her imagination and surrealism. “I find that thefun to be able to explore more eccentric, more extravagant ideas! The artist plans to unveil her first piece for Sursaut as the new artistic director in the fall of 2023.
According to Francine Châteauvert, dance brings “another dimension” to young people. “Children dance, move, are in their bodies,” she concludes. Dance brings a closeness with them, with their world, it consolidates who they are. »
The Universal Festival of Great Dance for Children takes place in Sherbrooke from June 6 to 12.