An escapism into Childhood

French-Algerian author Albert Camus once wrote, “Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being...” However, if this rebellion is to be expressed in an imaginative world through dance, the message about the transition from childhood to young adulthood can be conveyed in an endearing manner.

Based on this theory, a drance drama La forêt ébouriffée was organised by Alliance Française de Delhi on June 7 at LTG Auditorium in the national Capital. A literary adaptation of ‘La forêt de Racine’ written by French author Melusine Thiry, revolves around young Racine who seeks refuge from his hostile grandmother and traumatic daily life. He finds a forest inside his head that nobody has noticed and runs into it. The forest changes with his emotions, and the body sets off on adventures. He gradually traces a path that leads him back to himself.

The act which beautifully portrays the transition of Racine from childhood to adulthood, reminded every single person sitting in the auditorium of their childhood The forty-five -minute long dance presentation choreographed by Christian François Ben Aïm and was performed by  Christian Ben-Aim and Gill Viandier.

The effect of performance was further enhanced by the visual representation running behind a transparent netted wall, giving the audience a perfect sense of poetic journey and a 3D feeling between virtual images and bodies in motion. 

The performers’ wild and energetic movements completely made the audience get absorbed in his life.  “It is important to speak about childhood as it is one of the most beautiful phases in life and rebellion at such an age must not be refused/denied as it constitutes to the essence of being,” said choreographer Ben Aim when asked about the theme of the drama.

Explaining the hard work behind the performances, Ben said, “Presenting this concept had its own challenges. It was difficult to synchronise the two videos, two projections and two performers. They all were running parallel and appeared to the audience as one. We weren’t sure of it, until we first presented it in 2013, in France. But every time we perform, we have to practice all over again as every stage is different. We’ve to understand and adjust with the space.”

 The French group is on its first international tour, presenting the dance drama in eight cities of the nation- Chennai, Bangaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. 

Describing his experience in the country , Gill mentioned India as a beautiful country with beautiful people and excitedly narrated the list of places they had visited during their two -day visit to the national Capital. 

“It cannot be the case that you come to India and not taste the food. I really liked dosa, which I had in south India,” exclaimed Gill.