For Claudel Doucet, the accompaniment of artists that she now offers at LA SERRE — arts vivants is a bit like the continuation of her circus practice in recent years, carrying hand in hand: a supporting role. “Being a carrier is more than a discipline, it’s also a state where you put yourself at the service of others, in a form of collaboration,” she says. You are ready to do anything for the other to succeed. “Artistic director and co-director general, since January, of the organization which orchestrates the OFFTA, the one which had specialized in the reach of people” much more massive “that it now helps rather the projects to raise from the ground.
Describing herself as an “artist from contemporary circus culture”, she has really found her place in this interdisciplinary space. “I was ten years at the National Circus School (ENC), from children’s programs to Sport-studies. Afterwards, I toured as an acrobat. But I always felt a little alien in that world. At the ENC, they said I was the school dancer; in dance circles, that I was the acrobat…”
Practicing “a form of hybridity” of disciplines, Claudel Doucet has never felt comfortable with labels. “I have always slipped through the cracks. And when I discovered LA SERRE in 2017, it felt like a home to me. »
The 36-year-old artist, who has been working with the next generation at the ENC for several years through workshops and stagings, has been wanting to expand his support role for a while now. “I wanted to put what I knew at the service of my peers. With my company (LION LION), I was there, wondering how to support the creations of others. »
Return
After two years in a hybrid format, this face-to-face edition of the performing arts festival marks a “great return”… Back to normal? “Yes, but it was never normal with the OFFTA, that’s what is magnificent, replies Claudel Doucet. It’s always a festival where we know that even us, in the team, we will be surprised. A space where you don’t know exactly what to expect. And we come back in this spirit. »
“The notion of being together is going to be very strong. We’re going to celebrate it, a lot of projects address that. Several also deal with ways of resurfacing after what has just happened. And it was important for me, when I watched the programming, to take stock of things: some went into big delirium during the pandemic and are in the intoxication of their imagination. Others have dared to look a rather awful reality in the face and name it. So I see a lot of reaction to what happened, flashes that were fed from this strange moment, and now are ready to explode and be shared. This year, it’s like a large, generous, overflowing bouquet that goes off in many directions. »
A program made accessible thanks to a pass costing $30 and giving access to the 18 projects, which will be scattered in various places, from a library to a telephone booth. The event opens on May 27 with faith-holea show “completely extravagant, where Nate Yaffe worked to eliminate all forms of modesty from his body”.
The exploration of corporeality also seems to be very present in this edition. The director is delighted. “With the return to presence, it’s nice to see that the bodies are coming back in force. It’s tangible, what it does to us, to be near a body, at this moment. »
A difficult period, where emerging artists really need a boost. “We have lost a lot of voices, of people who have reoriented themselves. It’s not easy right now for the next generation. But those who stayed in the schools and continued despite everything, because they are fundamentally attached to what art brings, will have things to say! And for me, it’s important to also invite very green projects to OFFTA, which are really in their infancy, because we have to reach out to these artists. »
And hand to hand is precisely the strength of Claudel Doucet.