In L’œil nu, Maud Blandel combines the astrophysical phenomenon of pulsars – celestial bodies formed after the explosion of a star's heart – with the tragic memory of her father’s suicide. However, in this highly personal work, the choreographer avoids the realistic reconstruction of an autobiographical event of which, in the absence of an image, all that remains is a strong and confused sound memory. Inspired by the stellar phenomenon, the choreographer plays with six dancers, spinning them in circles, slowing them down, speeding them up, using repetition and elements of gravity to visualise the ephemeral and the temporal. L’œil nu deals with transitional states, gaps in memory and sensory perception, circling around the tragic and thus, to some extent, letting it happen. Following its premiere at the Arsenic in April 2023, L’œil nu was invited to join the Avignon Festival’s IN programme in July 2023 in conjunction with Sélection Suisse en Avignon as well as the Swiss Dance Days in Zurich in February 2024, among others.
Maud Blandel was born in France in 1986 and originally trained in contemporary dance in Toulouse (France). She moved to Lausanne in 2012 and completed the first Master’s course in direction at the Manufacture as well as a Master’s in visual arts at the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD). In 2015, she founded the association ILKA and started working as a choreographer. She now lives in Lausanne, where she has been artist-in-residence at the Arsenic since September 2018, and has been supported since 2016 by the Parallèle production office based in Marseille. For the next three years, Maud will be an associate artist at the CNDC in Anger (France) and at the Bonlieu Scène Nationale in Annecy (France). Her approach to dramaturgy, her taste for transformation and her concern for musicality lead her to create singular, powerfully composed choreographic objects. Her creations include Touch down (2015), Lignes de conduite (2018), Diverti Menti (2020) and Double Septet (2021). Alongside her work, she collaborates with Cindy Van Acker, Heiner Goebbels and Romeo Castelucci, as well as with many young scenic authors. .
Maud Blandel has her finger on the pulse of the world, from its origins to its extinction. Over the years, she has built up an oeuvre of passionate choreography, imbuing each of her performances with the deep-rooted impulses that drive us: from the hysteria of Dr Charcot’s mad women to the mathematical rhythms of music, from the energetic jumps of cheerleaders to the frenetic movement of the Tarantella and even the death of stars, leaving pulsars as their final trace. In “L’œil nu”, she succeeds in transporting us to a deeply personal world of pure movement, gracefully underscoring in the moment of performance how we can reconcile with the present, beyond the infinite and the traumas of the past.
Staging & choreography: Maud Blandel
Dancers: Bilal El Had (in alteration), Karin Dahouindji, Maya Masse,Tilouna Morel, Ana Teresa Pereira, Romane Peytavin, Simon Ramseier (in alteration)
Sound: Flavio Virzi, Denis Rollet, Maud Blandel
Lighting: Daniel Demont & Florian Bach
Mixing & sound diffusion: Denis Rollet
Outside view: Anna-Marija Adomaityte
Costumes: Marie Bajenova
Production: I L K A
ADC – Le Pavillon de la Danse
Arsenic – Centre d'art scénique contemporain
Canton de Vaud
Le Quai – CDN Angers Pays de la Loire
Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen en Normandie (as part of the Accueil-studio Residencies / Ministère de la Culture)
The company I L K A benefits from a contract of confidence with the city of Lausanne 2024–2027.
