What if, in 1963, the no-to-spectacle postmodernists of the Judson Church were confronted with members of the Harlem voguing scene, their love of glam and big entrances? The name of this odd couple’s child, the spark this contact would have generated, is Mimosa. Really, all of them – Marlene Monteiro Freitas, Cecilia Bengolea, François Chaignaud, and initiator Trajal Harrell – are Mimosa. Or so they say, embodying Mimosa as Kate Bush, Prince, or an opera diva, before stripping off any recognisable character with the next casual gesture. (M)imosa, part of Harrell’s series Twenty Looks or Paris is Burning at The Judson Church and first shown at ImPulsTanz in 2011, is a parade of contradictions, half-truths, and deeply felt lies, as well as a true classic of 21st century dance.
Concept and performance: Cecilia Bengolea, François Chaignaud, Trajal Harrell and Marlene Monteiro Freitas
Production: Mandorle productions (Garance Roggero, Jeanne Lefèvre and Emma Forster)
Co-production: Le Quartz – Scène nationale de Brest (FR), Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse (FR), La Place de la Danse CDCN Toulouse Occitanie (FR), The Kitchen, New York (US), Bomba Suicida, Lisbon (PT) and FUSED: French U.S. Exchange in Dance (FR/US)
With the support of La Ménagerie de verre Paris (FR), Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers (FR), DRAC Poitou-Charentes (FR), the Institut français (FR) and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (US)
Mandorle productions is subsidised by the Ministère de la culture – DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (FR) and the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (FR).
François Chaignaud is an associated artist of Bonlieu Scène nationale Annecy (FR), Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse (FR), Maison de la danse (FR) and the Biennale de la danse de Lyon (FR).
The CND Centre national de la danse (FR) and the Festival d’Automne à Paris (FR) are co-producers of the revival of this show and present it in collaboration with the Théâtre du Fil de l’Eau Pantin (FR).
Acknowledgments: Sarah Michelson, DD Dorvillier, Ben Pryor, Lasseindra Ninja, Alex Mugler, Rumi Missabu, Pascal Queneau, Archie Burnett, Javier Madrid, Matthieu Bajolet, Donatien Veismann, Miguel Bengolea, Marianne Chargois, Joao Figueira, Rio Rutzinger, Emmanuelle Huynh and Jessica Trossman
With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
