Géraldine Chollet - Cie Rahu LaMo

OUVERTURE – a piece for walking audiences and dancers

Dance / 1h10

In the frame of Les Rencontres d’Été
08 – 17 July / 21h30
Off on the 10th and 14th
La Chartreuse de Villeneuve lez Avignon
programmation

From her rural and religious origins, choreographer and dancer Géraldine Chollet has retained an intense spiritual dimension that runs through both her life and her work, particularly in OUVERTURE, her third creation. In this immersive piece, conceived as much for the outside as for the inside, there are no boundaries between the performance space and the viewing space: performers and audience walk side by side, united in a shared experience of body and spirit. It is an enveloping form of ritual, inspired by the mysteries of the Middle Ages and the primitive Appenzell New Year, yet it is totally anchored in the present, through the repeated walking around, the movement of the dancers, the live music and singing. Borrowing its title from the beautiful song by Etienne Daho, OUVERTURE invites everyone to connect with themselves, with their innermost selves, and with those around them. This sensitive artist’s beautiful proposal is to walk together and celebrate life.

Artistic director, choreographer (with the collaboration of the dancers), singing Géraldine Chollet
Dancers Mélissa Guex, Eléonore Heiniger, Bast Hippocrate and David Zagari
Assistant and manager of extras Trân Tran
Staging and lighting Sven Kreter
Sound design Renée Van Trier
Composer and sound tech Raphaël Raccuia
Tech manager Celine Ribeiro
Costumes Scilla Llardo
Production and diffusion Maxine Devaud / oh la la – performing arts production

Production Rahu LaMo Company
Coproduction Théâtre Sévelin 36, Lausanne
With the support of the City of Lausanne, the Swiss Foundation of performing artists SIS, Loterie Romande, Fondation Nestlé pour l’art, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Fondation Casino Barrière de Montreux
Thank you to all the Palestinian dancers from Dabke who have inspired me and whose basic steps we used in the choreography

biography

Géraldine Chollet was trained in the Laban Center in London. She then danced with several companies, like the Jessica Huber Company, Prototype-Status, Philippe Saire, Unplush. She also worked as an actress with the Emilie Charriot Company and Alakran – Oscar Gomez Mata. Since 2006, she’s been training with Ohad Naharin and the Batsheva Dance company to learn how to teach Gaga to dance and theatre professionals and non-professionals. She teaches this technique in the Manufacture and Annexe 36 in Lausanne. In addition to her practice, Géraldine is trained in spiritual support for patients in hospitals. Since 2011, Géraldine Chollet has been working as a choreographer with the Rahu LaMo Company, where she developed IRA, ITMAR, OUVERTURE – a piece for walking audiences and dancers and La Kabane. She is now working on a new group piece which will premiere in November 2025 in Théâtre Vidy Lausanne.

Vidéo