Plage Romantique (2014) 60’
Emanuel Gat Dance

World premiere on June 26th - 28th, 2014 in the Agora courtyard
at the occasion of Festival Montpellier Danse

Can sound serve as a vehicle for thought? Or an observation tool?
What happens when the space between the visual and auditory is stretched? Can that space be choreographed?
How might musicality inform us about networks, systems, social structures or individual behavior?
Can group musicality have anthropological qualities?
Is the LIVE aspect of theater a myth? Is it at all attainable?

Plage Romantique is a playful examinations of these questions as well as many others, harnessing the effectiveness of the choreographic process as a revelatory means.

“Plage Romantique is exactly what Montpellier Danse is all about. There’s shouting, running, momentum, audacity, complicity. All is new and playful, fresh and light. And it’s irresistible."

- Le Figaro, Arianne Bavelier
 

"Gat knows how to wonderfully pour his dancers on stage, like crests of waves that blending into one another. In this beach party the Israeli choreographer refines even further his use sound and voice, to create a chamber of echoes that reverberates on the quivering bodies. Run-ups, syncopation, ellipsis, full stops, Plage Romantique sets a choreographic temperature of extreme sensitivity."

- Le Monde, Rosita Boisseau
 

"Gat’s beach choreographies, impress not only through their extraordinary dynamic, but also through their subtle structure. The dancers in their loose summer attire as they continuously redeploy and change from single, double and triple formations with rapid fluidity. Throughout this blaze of movement, however, the throngs remain completely transparent in their geometric variations. As abruptly as they morph from synchronous interconnection to contrapuntal disconnect, they dissolve individually from a multi-voice body choir."

- Tanz Magazine, Eva Elisabeth Fischer
 

“The only thing left to do is to have a good time on Emanuel Gat’s Plage Romantique. Gat is an Israeli choreographer, settled in France and often invited to the festival. To the sound of a couple guitar chords that recall Pascal Danel’s hit song, the choreographer releases a troop of shouting dancers, dressed casually for a day at the beach. There, desire roams; the dancers call out to each other by their names and run after each other. Sometimes they catch each other lovingly, make fun of one another, as the soundtrack recovered from a previous performance grows louder and then we hear the phrase: « la colère gronde » ("anger is brewing"). It’s very delicate, very new wave, perfectly interpreted in a burst of generosity as we listen to the lyrics of the song: « Je veux t’aimer à mon idée » ("I want to love you in my own way"). And that’s what the performance does.”

- Les Echos, Philippe Noisette
 

“His international group of 10 dancers managed to swarm in and out of complex formation with exceptional poetic flow and without losing their firefly speed and lightness.”

- Jerusalem Post, Ora Brafman

A piece for 9 dancers.
Choreography, lights and soundtrack: Emanuel Gat
Soundtrack created in collaboration with: François Przybylski and Frédéric Duru
Dancers: Hervé Chaussard, Aurore Di Bianco, Pansun Kim, Michael Lohr, Geneviève Osborne, François Przybylski, Rindra Rasoaveloson, Milena Twiehaus and Sara Wilhelmsson

Production: Emanuel Gat Dance
Co-production: Festival Montpellier Danse 2014
With the support of: Fondation BNP Paribas, tanzhaus nrw, Conseil Général des Bouches du Rhône and Région Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur
The Company acknoweldges the support of the SAN Ouest-Provence and the French Ministry of Culture-DRAC Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur.