You cannot put it any more clearly: “Nothing is more brutal than the trivialisation of gestures, words and aggressions against women.” The position Mathilde Monnier, one of France’s most influential choreographers, takes in this brand-new group piece is uncompromising. It’s about everyday violence against women, which manifests itself in countless catastrophic assaults that happen out of the view of the public and usually only come to light when they culminate in deadly excesses. This suffering has been portrayed by directors Valérie Urrea and Nathalie Masduraud in their TV series H24 – 24 hours in a woman’s life (Arte, 2021), with all 24 episodes written by as many female authors. Having worked with Urrea before, Mathilde Monnier picks up the series’ threads under the title BLACK LIGHTS: eight female dancers and actors make ten texts by authors such as Siri Hustvedt, Fabienne Kanor and Grazyna Plebanek their own to put forward their call to end this culture of violence.
Choreography and direction: Mathilde Monnier
With: Isabel Abreu, Aïda Ben Hassine, Kaïsha Essiane, Lucia García Pulles, Mai-Júli Machado Nhapulo, Carolina Passos Sousa, Jone San Martin Astigarraga, Ophélie Ségala
Dramaturgy: Stéphane Bouquet
Scenography: Anne Tolleter with the atelier Martine Andrée
Light designer: Éric Wurtz
Sound designers: Olivier Renouf, Nicolas Houssin
Costume designer: Laurence Alquier
Production: Otto Productions
Diffusion: Nicolas Roux – Otto Productions
Based on the series H24 by Valérie Urrea and Nathalie Masduraud
With the support of: la Fondation d’entreprise Hermès
In coproduction with: Cie MM, Festival Montpellier Danse 2023, Le Quartz – Scène nationale de Brest, Le Parvis - Scène nationale Tarbes Pyrénées, Théâtre Garonne, scène européenne, TPR–Centre neuchâtelois des arts vivants & ADN–Danse Neuchâtel, La Chaux-de-Fonds
Hosted in residency by: Montpellier Danse, at the Agora, cite internationale de la danse, with the support of the BNP Baripas Foundation
