Co Eléphante Sandra Français - BASALTE

Residency: 9 > 13 March 2023
Event: 12 March 2026 - 6.30pm
Reservations: scene44@nncorsino.com

Basalte is a solo dance piece that explores the link between memory, technology, and movement.

Basalt is inspired by the volcanic rock of the same name, a symbol of a burning movement frozen in matter.
With this creation, Sandra Français extends her research into the memory of gesture through the use of motion capture technologies. Her exploration begins in the studio, as a research project, where she entrusts her dance to a motion capture device, translating the choreography into digital volumes with the aim of creating a sculpture, an object of memory that endures over time.

On stage, the approach takes the form of a fiction: the staging transports us to the near future, where a machine records choreographic data to preserve the memory of movement. By contrasting the mathematical rigor of the capture with the sensitivity of the living body, Basalte reveals the machine's limitations in the face of human inner experience and explores the possibility of a dialogue between humans and machines. The machine, initially insatiable, pushes humans to their limits, and teaches them to observe excesses, errors, and reactions in order to draw inspiration and recognize the value of what eludes them—a disconcerting encounter in which a form of hope emerges.

Choreography, concept, and performance: Sandra Français
Music: Martin Goodwin
Lighting design and stage management: Léo Grosperrin
Generative systems design in C++ and real-time visual creation: Julien Bayle (Structure Void)
Technological support for the project as part of the partnership with the Centre des Arts d'Enghien-les-Bains: Paul Hirsch
Visuals: ©Jean-Michel Melat-Couhet
External perspectives: Christine Bastin, Anne Le Batard (Cie Ex Nihilo), Julie Alamelle (Cie Mouvimento), Sophie Blet

Project partners and supporters: Centre des Arts d’Enghien-les-Bains, La Fabrique de la Danse, Le Château Éphémère, Le Dispositif Récif - Karukera Ballet, Klap Maison pour la Danse, SCENE44 . n + n Corsino, Pôle 164, Théâtres en Dracénie, scène conventionnée art et création danse-Draguignan