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Cie Philippe Saire
Av. de Sévelin 36
1004 Lausanne
Suisse

in permanent residency at Théâtre Sévelin 36

+41 21 620 00 12 info@philippesaire.ch

Newsletter

×

Cie Philippe Saire
Av. de Sévelin 36
1004 Lausanne
Suisse

in permanent residency at Théâtre Sévelin 36

+41 21 620 00 12 info@philippesaire.ch

Newsletter

Black Out spectacle ×

Premiere at Théâtre Sévelin 36 Lausanne November 18th, 2011,
45 min.

Black Out has celebrated its 170th show in 2016 and carries on with dense touring around the world. Somewhere between dance, performance and visual arts, this dark piece presents a very unusual set that is putting the spectators above the dancers. A strong and intimate experience.
The piece is the first one of an ongoing series called Dispositifs – before NEONS Never Ever, Oh ! Noisy Shadows and Vacuum – in which a visual concept is at the start of the creation process.
We watch, from above, as thousands of black granulated fragments transform the dancers’ world into a moving, pictorial composition, that jars as it shifts in response to the light, sound, and movement. We watch a work in progress, displaying dark images that touch the intimate sphere and the shadowy part in each of us.

“The transition from light to darkness, from life to death, from oil slick to raining ashes… Philippe Saire’s Black Out is a masterstroke that is watched from above: a moving picture of light, muscle and rubber dust.”
Julien Burri, L’Hebdo, Switzerland


The priorities in this piece are essentially graphic, although a dramaturgical framework has been superimposed discretely, and dictates the progression of the piece, as much on the visual as on the gestural level. At the start of the piece, we find ourselves in a world all of white, overexposed, rather like the roof of a building where three people have come to sunbathe, with their swimming costumes and towels. To get a tan, to darken. An irradiated space, erasing the thickness of their bodies, reducing them to the two dimensional form of an image. A sketch in movement, a moving composition of flattened silhouettes, a white surface, the bright colours of the swimming costumes and the towels. This bird’s eye view puts us in the almost clinical situation of observers. We are scrutinising a microcosm close to our own, consisting of time-killing activities, with their codes both familiar and indecipherable. The falling ‘black matter’ gradually obscure the space, obliterating both the white surface and the colours. But they also restore substance to the bodies. In a sort of “regressive evolution”, the three protagonists attempt to domesticate this invasion. But it will prove to be quite resistant to any attempt at mastering it. Progressively, they will become as one with the matter, dissolve into it, and yet, paradoxically, rediscover power and life. Images of regression, of a return to origins, or even an elegy to the shadow from which our contemporary overexposure distances us, and above all the pictorial work, Black Out is an unusual piece in my career as a choreographer. It is far removed from the kind of theatricality you can find in my recent pieces, and bears witness to a very old attachment to drawing, to the use of charcoal, graphite, pastels… Nuances of grey and black, a breeding ground for memories and snippets of bodies.

Philippe Saire


The transition from light to darkness, from life to death, from oil slick to raining ashes… Philippe Saire’s Black Out is a masterstroke that is watched from above: a moving picture of light, muscle and rubber dust.
Julien Burri, L’Hebdo, Switzerland

The valiant performers and their poses now summon up figures from ancient Pompeii, felled as they worked or slept, immobilized in volcanic ash. Brutality. Devastation. This is the way the world ends.

Deborah Jowitt, DanceBeat, New York

For the whole show, the audience is given to try out an unusual viewpoint on the dancing bodies and, in the relentless minutes, the scenic ingenuity of Black Out stands out (…) The language of movement also applies to the spectator who, in his position, is in turns witness or voyeur, brought to empathy or repulsion. He will not get away unscathed from this invading matter, which dissolves all outlines and images.
Marie Chavanieux, La Terrasse, Paris

The visual rendering of this dance production, which uses tiny pellets of rubber to draw white lines on a dark background, is indeed spectacular.

Marie-Pierre Genecand, Le Temps, Suisse

As they fight against the invading obscurity, to the sound of a joyous and funeral brass band, which sounds like some New Orleans funeral jazz – orchestrated by Stéphane Vecchione – the dancers violently push through the space, spreading the blackness all over. Wonderful abstract pictures of black and white appear.
Corinne Jaquiéry, 24heures, Suisse


Concept & choreography
Philippe Saire


Choreography in collaboration with the dancers
Philippe Chosson, Maëlle Desclaux, Jonathan Schatz


Dramatist
Roberto Fratini Serafide


Set and lighting consultants
Sylvie Kleiber, Laurent Junod


Sound design
Stéphane Vecchione


Costumes
Tania D’Ambrogio


Technical director
Yann Serez (création), Vincent Scalbert (tournées)


Lighting
Vincent Scalbert, Yan Godat, Pascal Di Mito, Joran Hegi


Sound mix
Philippe Saire, Jérémy Conne


Video recording & teaser
Pierre-Yves Borgeaud


Photography & graphic design
Philippe Weissbrodt


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Past dates

Lausanne (CH)
18.11.2011
11.12.2011
Paris (FR)
14.12.2011
16.12.2011
Genève (CH)
05.02.2012
05.02.2012
Saint-Imier (CH)
20.04.2012
21.04.2012
Lausanne (CH)
06.06.2012
10.06.2012
Zürich (CH)
04.10.2012
05.10.2012
Winthertur (CH)
15.11.2012
15.11.2012
Lisbonne (PT)
07.12.2012
08.12.2012
Bern (CH)
19.01.2013
20.01.2013
Fribourg (CH)
06.02.2013
08.02.2013
Cognac (FR)
26.03.2013
26.03.2013
St-Pétersbourg (RU)
22.06.2013
23.06.2013
27.08.2013
28.08.2013
Verscio (CH)
01.10.2013
02.10.2013
Yverdon-les-Bains (CH)
19.11.2013
20.11.2013
04.12.2013
13.12.2013
New York (US)
09.01.2014
12.01.2014
22.04.2014
23.04.2014
Steckborn (CH)
16.05.2014
17.05.2014
Prague (CZ)
11.06.2014
12.06.2014
Le Havre (FR)
31.01.2015
01.02.2015
Bangalore (IN)
13.02.2015
14.02.2015
Maastricht (NL)
19.03.2015
20.03.2015
Tilburg (NL)
02.04.2015
02.04.2015
Beijing (CN)
08.06.2015
10.06.2015
Tianjin (CN)
13.05.2015
14.06.2015
Shanghai (CN)
17.06.2015
18.06.2015
Budapest (HU)
12.10.2015
13.10.2015
Bratislava (SK)
17.10.2015
17.10.2015
Ljubljana (SL)
21.10.2015
22.10.2015
Plovdiv (BG)
31.10.2015
01.11.2015
Leipzig (DE)
07.11.2015
08.11.2015
Bonn (DE)
26.02.2016
26.02.2016
Bremen (DE)
09.04.2016
09.04.2016
Birmingham (UK)
03.05.2016
04.05.2016
Vevey (CH)
12.05.2016
15.05.2016
Bournemouth (UK)
08.10.2017
08.10.2017
Cardiff (UK)
10.11.2017
11.11.2017
14.05.2018
15.05.2018
Stuttgart (DE)
03.07.2019
04.07.2019