FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR - SUMMER SHOWS FROM CHALON

Our next events at Bell Square feature 2 wonderful companies from France – Le Grand Jeté and (the fabulously named) Collectif Fearless Rabbits.

I love chatting with people at Bell Square, talking about the shows and what everybody thought about them.

A question I’m regularly asked is, ‘Where do you find all these shows?’ Most of the shows, I will have seen at festivals. There are hundreds of festivals of outdoor arts and performance all over the world, but especially in Europe. Each festival has its own strengths and specialisms, of course, and there are certain ones that are particularly good for the type of shows we present at Bell Square.

There are, however, a couple of huge festivals of outdoor arts which programmers looking for shows for their own locations will visit regularly. ‘Fira Tarrega’ in Spain and ‘Chalon Dans La Rue’ in France are the hypermarkets of outdoor performance.

Chalon is a very small city in Eastern France. Every year, its festival, Chalon Dans La Rue – or Chalon in the Street – offers 5 days of outdoor performance. The festival tries to create a dialogue between artists, the city and the public about what is going on in the world. Typically, 150 companies will take part, turning this small city into a monumental stage. There will be 1000 performances running from 8.00 in the morning through to 3.00 the following morning. It’s a crazy schedule but you certainly see plenty of shows!

As the middle and south of France sweltered in a blistering heatwave last year, the 2023 festival was one I won’t forget. Rushing around the city from one show to the next seemed demanding enough – but think of the dancers and circus artists performing in 40 degrees!

There were many, many wonderful shows and you will see some of them at Bell Square in the years to come. Two of them, you will see this month. Both have dance at their heart but that is where the similarity ends.

On Saturday 3 August, Le Grand Jete bring their show, Repliques. Two dancer-acrobats are propelled around a circular stage, initially competing with or imitating each other but gradually realising that they can do so much more if they work together.  It’s a fun, engaging show by 2 excellent performers. As I sat in a park in Chalon last year – yes, in 40 degrees – I thought that our audiences at Bell Square would love this. You can thank me on Saturday.

And on Saturday 17 August, Collectif Fearless Rabbits perform R.L.M. – or Rapid Life Movement. A solo male dancer performs inside an open cube structure, avoiding the ever-present danger of fast-moving metal shards. The piece is a response to the terror attacks at the Bataclan theatre and other sites in Paris in 2015. It looks at how a place can seem dangerous and deadly on one day and then calm and spiritual on another.  The artist describes making the piece as a catharsis after the horror of the attacks. However, it also offers the public a possibility for meditation on the transformation of the place, not least because of the ghosts who will always remain there. This is a striking, powerful and emotional performance – not to be missed.

Come and join us for both of these very different shows from last year’s edition of Chalon Dans La Rue!

Le Grand Jete perform twice, at 1.00 pm and again at 3.00 pm, on Saturday 3 August.

Collectif Fearless Rabbits also perform twice, at 3.00 pm and again at 7.00 pm, on Saturday 17 August.

Look forward to seeing you there!