Cartes Blanches means ‘complete freedom’ or ‘a blank card.” While blankness gives reign to choice, factors like the card’s size and texture, inevitably shape it. This play of freedom with restriction seemed to define ‘Cartes Blanches’, recreated with Indian dancers by French choreographer Mourad Merzouki, in collaboration with Prakriti Foundation and The French Institute in India. Performed at Prestige Srihari Khoday Centre for Performing Arts, Bengaluru, ‘Cartes Blanches’ simultaneously relayed distance and intimacy. The proscenium stage set apart the impossibly nimble dancers from an audience not necessarily made up of dancers, while the highly skilled dancers played out intimate (and complex) movement conversations conducted against the backdrop of a grandly furnished living room. Sharply designed lights determined the audience’s perception of the powerful storytelling taken on by dancers negotiating unique relationships with rhythm, time and space. |
It seemed like the invitation to experience freedom was also extended to the audience who could make their own meaning of the narratives panning out on stage. These narratives could have spoken of young cousins meeting after long, a reunion of classmates or even a family’s post-dinner conversation. The interaction between diverse dance styles layered the performance — astounding in energy and told in an endearing voice.
‘Cartes Blanches’ was presented by six Indian dancers chosen last year through multi-city auditions | Photo Credit: Arun Nag
Co-produced by the French Institute, India and Prakriti Foundation, Campagnie Kafig’s ‘Cartes Blanches’ was presented by six Indian dancers chosen last year through multi-city auditions, when internationally renowned choreographer Mourad Merzouki was touring the country with another work — Pixel. First premiered in 2016, ‘Cartes Blanches’, in this Indian version, wove in local dance and martial art forms. These parts, surprisingly, did not jar, possibly because the audience was already prepared for the assortment of flavours brought by dancers, who, clearly, were not from one training mould.
Merzouki, recently in the news for exclusive choreographies created for the Olympic Games in Paris, spoke about the process of recreating ‘Cartes Blanches’ in India. Having been a circus performer well before his dance journey began, Merzouki is known for bringing together acrobatics and dance. He sees movement as “a language to create.” Believing that “a body in movement does not separate acrobatics and dance,” he often chooses to interweave them in his work.
The production was an attempt to blend an array of energies and styles | Photo Credit: Arun Nag
Mourad sees his work as an attempt to blend an array of energies and styles, irrespective of the dancers’ origins. “I want to work on a form of alchemy, so that each creation is unique and singular,” he says. He believes that recasting a production with “other bodies, other energies, gives a whole new approach to the piece and makes it more mature and powerful.” He is excited about how the latest version of ‘Cartes Blanches’ is informed by flavours brought in by Indian dancers and their diverse training backgrounds.
The new piece “complements the original hip-hop or contemporary dance” structure of ‘Cartes Blanches’, he says. A choreographer who thrives on “challenges and crossing disciplines,” Merzouki is inspired by the questions that come up during the creative process. “It’s never easy, but each time, the encounters I have with different artistes and techniques lead me to reinvent myself, so each show has its own story, its own dynamic,” he says. He finds “the social dimension of hip hop dance” crucial and lets it guide his creative process. Armand Amar’s musical score for ‘Cartes Blanches’, “draws on sounds and cultures from all over the world,” he points out. “We both enjoy working with designers from other fields, and our collaboration has enabled us to question each other while also merging our worlds,” says Mourad.
Internationally renowned choreographer Mourad Merzouki with the dancers | Photo Credit: Arun Nag
Dancers Deep Das, Shahan Kavarana, Snigdha Prabhakar, Sam Padelkar, Divieta Sahajwala and Chetan Kumar Yeragera brought ‘Cartes Blanches’ alive with their honest explorations of freedom within the pre-existing framework of an almost decade-old dance production created in a very different cultural context. They all felt the two-week period of preparation was barely enough to scratch the surface of the piece, while appreciating the careful guidance of Mourad and his team members, Remi Autechaud and Sabri Colin. They expressed how they felt supported in the many challenges they had to take on, physically, emotionally and mentally, while traversing the personal growth pathways the piece opened for each of them.
Published - October 04, 2024 12:19 pm IST
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