Philippe Decouflé
These pioneers possess an essential quality which I look for in dance: exaltation.
It was later that I discovered the intelligence with which Charles Atlas filmed Cunningham, on a par and in collaboration with him. It was this same Charles Atlas who, in 1984, shot my second video within a week - "Jump" - with him I completed my first video sequence of several minutes' length.
Afterwards, I alternated: first a film, then a live performance, so that the cinema became my other field of endeavour. Now, with SHAZAM!, I am quite satisfied in having, this time, united my two passions. As a matter of fact, ABRACADABRA, a film produced by the French/German channel ARTE and incorporating a year of cinematographic ideas, was one of the points of departure for SHAZAM!
In SHAZAM!, we project a film, we project dances, and simultaneously we demonstrate on-stage the techniques used in filming them. I have always had this wish to demystify, to reveal the artifice behind a sleight of hand. And in breaking down the procedure into its different phases, one can put various interpretations at the spectators' disposal. For example, if one is watching a dancer on the stage, and a close-up of the same dancer is projected simultaneously, one is in a position to see the body in motion and capture a detail at the same time. The risk, however, is that the spectators will concentrate on the picture, their eyes being immediately attracted by the screen, which wields an innate fascination. I try, therefore, to modify the event so that one watches more and more what is really happening. The visual image must punctuate the reality, adding to it without taking over. It is a real struggle.
Extracts from a conversation with Philippe Decouflé
About my desire to do film choreography
