These two films were made in a very close collaborative dialogue between Swiss choreographer Foofwa d’Imobilité and Swiss director Nicolas Wagnières.
The idea was to rework for the camera two solos created for the stage in 1998, so that the same original ideas and atmospheres could be specifically translated for the cinematographic medium. One can consider these films as something between a captation and a creation for the video, something we can call “recreations for the camera”.
Maximax : Avatar de la compétitivité
In the avatar “Maximax” Foofwa personifies the constraints of economical competitivity in the world of dance. The choreographic movements, between modernity and ballet nostalgia, are always pushed to the extreme. The sound of physical labor are displayed (breathing, noises of the body). The numeric voices ordering the dancer to sell himself, orders that he repeats with his own voice, are the only music to his ears.
The film is cut into nine sections punctuated by 4 interludes. Each section has a logic of its own, in connection with the others. The camera moves are minimal to leave all the space to the body. The repeated frontality of the camera point of view implies the gaze of an classical theater setting.
Iuj Godog? Confesses d’un choré
This solo is foremost an expression of the extreme emotions a creator can feel. Sometimes flying towards the almightyness of creation, some other times self-criticizing as a no good for nothing, he never gets out of this contradiction. The costume embodies also this dialectic – upward fertile phallus on one end and scatological intestine outpour on the other.
The stage was transformed into a theatrical cage in which the dancer moves between dark and light backgrounds. The camera travels around the protagonist, witness of this choreographic confession.
Maximax & Iuj Godog? |
Créé pour la scène en 1998, recréé pour la caméra en 2008 |
Chorégraphie et interprétation | Foofwa d’Imobilité |
Réalisation | Nicolas Wagnières et Foofwa d’Imobilité |
Caméra | Nicolas Wagnières |
Assisté par | Ruth Childs, Aurélie Doutre, Valeria Stucki |
Prise son | Antoine Lengo |
Montage | Nicolas Wagnières |
Texte, son et vidéo | Foofwa d’Imobilité |
Costumes | Suzanne Gallo |
secondée par | Beatriz Consuelo |
Technique salle des Eaux-Vives | Marc Gaillard |
Mixage | Adrien Kessler |
Etalonnage | Grégory Bindschedler |
Production | Neopost Foofwa |
Neopost Foofwa bénéficie d’un soutien conjoint de la Ville de Genève, de l’Etat de Genève et de Pro Helvetia. |
Video Presentation – Mediatek
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