Les nouveaux Aristocrates (2017)
Honoré de Balzac, born in 1799, drew up an encyclopedic portrait of the mores of France, describing in his novels and his stories the ambitions of all social categories, in the context of his time: emerging capitalism. His critical analyzes of economic inequalities and of the urban laws attached to power come from his own experience, from his own implications, which inspired his many characters. These find their real and current equivalent among the members of La Fleur. Like the dandies and courtesans of the 19th century, these dancers, DJs and actors of the 21st century, form a sort of aristocracy from below.
All over the world, young women and men from the “province” want to try their luck and are ready to cross continents to reach Western metropolises and break into them. They find there not only a mixture of luxury and fashions, attitudes and styles, but also a protectionist migration policy, reinforced security measures and an invisible but virulent division into social classes; a society where upward mobility is not meant to work for everyone.
The members of La Fleur do not come to terms with these limitations, but take on roles and change status according to the principle of “Determine yourself who you want to be”. It requires strategies of metamorphosis and overcoming, which are applied not only on stage, but also in life. The more precarious and controlled the conditions, the more skill and ambition are needed in order to be able to show lavishness and passion, in order to display an aristocratic conduct which the austerizing bourgeois elites are mentally unable to do.
Distribution
Directed by Monika Gintersdorfer
Choreography Franck Edmond Yao alias Gadoukou the Star with LA FLEUR
Text inspired by The Girl with Golden Eyes by Honoré de Balzac
With Annick Choco, Alaingo, Cora Frost, Carlos Gabriel Martinez, Jean-Claude Dagbo alias DJ Meko, Lino Makebo, Mishaa, Ordinateur, Reyod, Marion Siefert, Matthieu Svetchine, Élisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe, Franck Edmond Yao alias Gadoukou the Star
Scenography and lighting Christin Vahl
Costumes Sebastian Ellrich, Abdoulaye Kone aka Bobwear, Madou Sanguin, Christin Vahl
Dramaturgical advice Elise Graton, Katia Flouest-Sell, Marion Siefert
Production
Production LA FLEUR
Coproduction Wiener Festwochen, Kampnagel, FFT Düsseldorf, MC93 — Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis. Subsidized by Kulturstiftung des Bundes
With the support of CN D — Centre national de la danse et de La Commune — Centre dramatique national d’Aubervilliers et du Nouveau théâtre de Montreuil — centre dramatique national.
