The Vital Signs project took a new and exciting turn when we were invited to Paris for two days by Boris Wiseman, director of the Fondation Deutsch de la Meurthe of the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (CIUP), whom we met in Manchester during our involvement in Aesthetic Enquiry Across Disciplines (a research network at the University of Manchester). Boris introduced us to musician Pierre Levy with whom we will perform a set as part of a festival of Improvisation at the CIUP on October 10th.
Pierre is a remarkable musician whose instruments are tenor and soprano saxophone and piano. Our collaboration began to unfold in the impressive setting of the Grand Hall of the Fondation Deutsch with Sarie and I sharing some of our choreography in process, and decorating the walls with stanzas from our co-written poem. We played with different combinations of learned and improvised movement and music along with voice, finding all kinds of exciting effects, and a possible programme began to come into being. Pierre regaled us with music from sources as diverse as Abdullah Ibrahim, Frank Zappa and Thelonious Monk, so expect a varied evening!
On the second day we were also joined by photographer Alizée Gau, who swiftly (and literally!) dived into the space between us to document our emerging working practices. We look forward to seeing the results of her sensitive and attentive exploration.
Thanks to Boris for the invitation and to partner Rachael, with whom we shared a memorable birthday celebration with drinks on the lawn outside the Grand Hall before repairing to a local restaurant for fabulous traditional French food. We look forward to returning to Paris in the Autumn!
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