November 22 to 27
Myths are nothing more than the insidious, inflexible demand that all men recognize themselves in the eternal, yet dated image constructed of them one day, as if for all time. For the Nature in which we enclose them under the pretext of eternizing them, is only a Usage. And it is this Usage, however great, that they must take in hand and transform. R. Barthes in Mythologies, 1957.
The New Mythologies
Les Nouvelles Mythologies, or how ancient myths are crossing over into our contemporary world with the emergence of new technologies and the predominance of the image.
Starting with the observation that Cannes is the mythical city of the image, I wanted to question the living body and choreographic art in our rapidly changing world of pleasures and perceptions around a theme common to both editions of the Biennale de danse de Cannes (2011 and 2013).
The choice of this theme stems from a reflection by German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk, for whom we are experiencing a new mythological horizon. “The sum of all the information and stories conveyed in our media produces a mythological effect…”.
Mythology of the body
The body is one of the most important issues in the human sciences today. For dancers, it is their main working tool. The body is tirelessly questioned.
Today, we have a new relationship with the body: it is becoming a site of experimentation, and we are witnessing a remodeling of the body thanks to the “benefits” of science.
While it’s true that we’re increasingly experiencing our physicality through coupling with a whole range of prostheses, the body remains fragile, sensual, condensed with memories, capable of resistance and, until further notice, the primary instance through which we inhabit the world.
Mythology of the Image
The modern world is like an arena in perpetual mutation, where people are confronted with the images they produce; a world which, via advertising and the information superhighway, shapes the desires and anxieties of human beings: the myth of eternal youth, physical beauty, feelings of insecurity…
It has to be said that modern mythology enshrines the reign of the image; this body/image confrontation becomes the place where the subject asserts itself in the face of the technological world.
Mythology of Technique
The contemporary body is increasingly confronted with immaterial universes and artificial realities. Technology enables us to extend our capabilities, while at the same time attempting to colonize them.
In addition to the relationship between dance and technology, the Biennial will also question the relationship between contemporary and classical dance technique.
“Les Nouvelles Mythologies” will therefore be an opportunity to reflect on what is specifically human, on dance as a reappropriation of the body, on what will always differentiate us from machines and images, and on what might be the definitions of a new humanism at a time when identity markers are changing at the same time as the organization of space.
Frédéric Flamand, Artistic Director
