Residencies

• 18.03 > 23.03.2024

With the ​“ARMOUR” threeso­me, per­for­mers Arno Ferrera, Gilles Polet, and Charlie Hession explo­re ques­ti­ons lin­ked to mas­cu­li­ni­ty and viri­li­ty, with the desi­re to offer a new per­spec­ti­ve. Starting from the noti­on of (over)protection, which leads to vio­len­ce, they con­front the toxic aspects of viri­li­ty to open a spa­ce of inti­ma­cy and fra­gi­li­ty that they find essen­ti­al. By (over)protection, they mean the mecha­nis­ms that cre­a­te rela­ti­o­nal obsta­cles and the impos­si­bi­li­ty of ente­ring the inti­ma­te domain. 

The tac­ti­le dimen­si­on is one of the spe­ci­fi­ci­ties of this pro­ject. The the­me of love is under­ly­ing in this cre­a­ti­on, here in a mul­ti­ple form, calling into ques­ti­on the nor­ma­ti­ve para­digms of our soci­e­ty regar­ding roman­tic relationships. 

During this very phy­si­cal per­for­man­ce, the three artists reach sta­tes whe­re soft­ness, ero­ti­cism, and self-moc­kery find their pla­ce. This phy­si­cal com­mit­ment is the­re­fo­re at the ser­vi­ce of a rela­ti­ons­hip with others based on lis­te­ning, trust, and wel­co­ming inti­ma­cy. By let­ting them­sel­ves sli­de into rela­ti­ons­hips of seduc­ti­on and rede­fi­ned mas­cu­li­ni­ty, they offer a repre­sen­ta­ti­on of free and generous love, uni­ver­sal and plu­ral, in a joy­ful com­pli­ci­ty with the audien­ce sea­ted clo­se­ly, all around the stage. 

“We pro­po­se taking risks on sta­ge becau­se we want to pose acti­ons and ques­ti­ons that can sha­ke up, wit­hout inhi­bi­ti­on, but wit­hout beco­ming an unne­ces­sa­ry pro­vo­ca­ti­on. For example, we cre­a­te sce­nes of gre­at bodi­ly inti­ma­cy but in a very ten­der and natu­ral rela­ti­ons­hip, which makes them accessible”. 

ARMOUR will pre­mi­è­re on the 6th of April in the fra­me­work of SPRING Festival orga­ni­sed by La Brèche, Pôle National Cirque de Normandie in Cherbourg (FR).

“It is not true that men are unwil­ling to chan­ge. It is true that many men are afraid to chan­ge. It is true that mas­ses of men have not even begun to look at the ways patri­ar­chy keeps them from kno­wing them­sel­ves, from being in touch with their fee­lings, from loving. 

To know love, men must be able to let go of the will to domi­na­te. They must be able to choo­se life over death. They must be wil­ling to change.” 

bell hooks