2023 TCAF:《Afternoon of a Foehn》

Afternoon of a Foehn

（Photo credit: Jean-Luc Beaujault）

This is a piece of choreography for puppets and their puppeteer, a ventilation system and a few props; plastic bags, a coat, a pair of scissors, a roll of sticky tape, a walking stick and an umbrella. Accompanied by the notes of Claude Debussy’s three musical works: « Afternoon of a Faune », « Nocturnes» and « Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea », a ballet mistress creates a piece of choreography performed by plastic dancers, propelled into currents of air. Without needing to touch them, or barely even brush against them, the freedom of their movement makes the puppets seem more and more human by the second, the air streaming through them like blood flow. Through the manipulation of the plastic bags, their evolution and their transformation, a relationship develops between progenitor and puppet. This is where the adventure starts. We witness fortuitous encounters dictated by thermal phenomena, an « étoile » ballet dancer is born before our very eyes, there’s a « pas de deux » here, a burst of fireworks there, and further down the track a monster may be lurking …

（Photo credit: Jean-Luc Beaujault）

 

Compagnie Non Nova

Founded in 1998 by Phia Ménard with the founding precept, “We invent nothing, we see things differently”: Non nova, sed nove.

Since it was established, the company has been based in Nantes, on the Atlantic coast of France. Its headquarters include a rehearsal studio, a construction workshop, a costume workshop, offices and set storage. The Non Nova’s premises allow them to carry out preliminary research and rehearsals, culminating in the company’s live performance pieces.

The many multidisciplinary projects of the company have brought together artists, technicians and thinkers from various horizons with diverse experiences. It is not a collective but a professional team, with Phia Ménard and Claire Massonnet in charge of the artistic direction.

The team - 40 individuals - was formed through various projects and discussions, the members sharing their skill, expertise and the desire to create through imaginative research.

Technical director: Olivier Gicquiaud – Administration and production assistant: Constance Winckler
Public relations: Justine Lasserrade.

Dramaturgy partner for « The Trilogy of Immoral Tales (for Europe) »: Jonathan Drillet
Artists in shows currently touring: Marlène Rostaing, Anna Gaïotti, Jeanne Vallauri, Amandine Vandroth, Marion Blondeau, Santana Susnja, Fanny Alvarez, Rémy Balagué, Inga Huld Hákonardóttir, Erwan Ha Kyoon Larcher, Elise Legros, Jean-Louis Ouvrard, Cécile Briand, Silvano Nogueira.

Technicians and engineers: Ivan Roussel, Mateo Provost, François Aubry know as Moustache, Fabrice Ilia Leroy, Pierre Blanchet, Rodolphe Thibaud, Philippe Ragot, David Leblanc, Félix Löhmann, Philippe Marie, Manuel Menes, Yolène Guais, Claire Rigaud, Olivier Tessier, Aurore Baudouin, Eric Soyer, Clarisse Delile, Benoit Desnos, Ludovic Losquin, Aliénor Lebert, Gwendal Malard.

Since it was founded in 1998 the Compagnie Non Nova has performed its shows all around the world.

（Photo credit: Patrick Garçon）

 

Phia Ménard, France

Watching Jérôme Thomas’ show Extraballe in 1991, Phia Ménard realised she felt a strong desire to train in the performing arts and in particular in the art of juggling. She began training in modern dance, mime and acting. She trained with the juggling master, Jérôme Thomas, and went on to join his company, performing in numerous shows up until 2003. In 1997, alongside her work with the company, she continued her dance training and performed in two short pieces choreographed by Hervé Diasnas and Valérie Lamielle.

She founded the company Non Nova in 1998 and created Le Grain. It was with her solo show Ascenseur, fantasmagorie pour élever les gens et les fardeaux (Elevator, Phantasmagoria for elevating people and burdens, created in 2001, that she first gained recognition and critical acclaim as a creator.

Admired for her singular way of working, the scène nationale Le Carré in Château-Gontier invited her to be their associate artist from 2003 to 2006. There, she and her team (and Le Carré’s team) developed a form of stage work where the spectacular, visual aspect of juggling is downplayed and challenged, in favour of a new relationship with her audience. Numerous performance pieces, shows and events sprang from this work: Zapptime, rêve éveillé d'un zappeur (Zapptime, Daydream of a Channel-Hopper), the conference-show Jongleur pas confondre (Juggler, don’t confuse) with the sociologist Jean-Michel Guy, Fresque et Sketches 2nd round, and the “off-piste” projects: Est-il vraiment sérieux de jongler?  (Is it really serious to juggle?), Ursulines Dance Floor and Ursulines Mushroom Power.

In 2005 and 2007, she developed her work on the notion of “unjugglability”, devising two pieces, Zapptime#Remix and Doggy Bag and two forms of cabaret, Jules for ever, Touch it with the musicians from the sextet “Frasques”.

In 2008, her artistic career took a new direction with the project I.C.E. - Injonglabilité Complémentaire des Eléments (Complementary Unjugglability of the Elements), with the aim of examining the imaginative aspect of transformation and erosion through natural matter and the elements.

Since January 2008, different cycles have been initiated:

The Ice Cycle, with pieces like P.P.P., ICE MAN and Black Monodie; The Wind Cycle: Afternoon of a foehn Version 1, Afternoon of a foehn, VORTEX and Les Os Noirs; the Water and Steam Cycle: Belle d’Hier and Dry Season; The Sublimation Cycle: Immoral Tales – Part 1: Mother House, No Way and The Trilogy of Immoral Tales (for Europe) created at the Festival d’Avignon in July 2021.

Her pieces are presented in France and all over the world (more than 50 countries).

（Photo credit: Patrick Garçon）