Roots of this project
After several years of creating Vertical Dance buildings, my strong rapport with nature inspired me to try it in trees. I wanted to experience new sensations, particularly flying around a tree.
My perceptions are stronger than my rational thoughts about trees. It is a living being. It was there before me and It will be there after me. I don’t want to hurt it. It seems to be strong but it is fragile, vulnerable. Nobody hesitates to cut it down to build their house. Do human lives mean more? Do we have the right to kill them?
When I see a tree, I would like to caress her, to listen to her, to love, honor and protect her. I don’t want to use her just for my floor. I feel her soul. I would like to guide the audience to caress her, to listen to her, to love, honor and protect her with me.
I hope that we can come together in unison to protect trees and recognize that we are all the children of the Earth.
The Tree Spirit: a duet with tree and dancer, a poetic hymn to nature
This hymn to nature begins with a walk through the forest, guided by a Forest Spirit. He will lead the audience into his world and show them the beauty and the fragility using the senses: touch, smell, sound and sight, helping them discover that in this place everything has a spirit. He is an intermediary between the Tree Spirit and the human spirit. He helps connect one to the other. He will lead the audience to the Tree Spirit.
The TreeSpirit appears once a year to invigorate the tree with energy from a ceremony. But this year, the ceremony doesn’t work. The spirit has cared for and nurtured the tree, but the tree is still suffering. The Spirit will invite humans to go into her world. She is going to heighten their awareness and open their hearts. She will invite the audience to lend their positive energy to help heal the tree.
The show ends with a distribution of seeds, real living seeds. The audience leaves with a present, a precious gift, a source of life. The seed symbolises the desire and urgency to rebuild life on our planet, to rebuild the forests, to reconnect with the magic of life.Children and adults receive them with starry eyes: there’s magic in these seeds!
The eternal cycle of life.
Dance in nature workshops led by Isabelle Pencréach, the choreographer and the dancer The aim is to awaken full awareness of being in an exceptional environment, to awaken emotions and feeling of fullness and joy, to awaken childlike pleasures (rolling in the grass, swinging, hiding…), to feel the union with nature physically and emotionally, then socially. We’ll start by connecting with our senses: feeling the warmth of the sun, the coolness of the air, the support of the earth, the strength of the Wood : we’ll marvel at a flower, an insect, the immensity of the sky, the shapes and movements of the clouds. Breathing, which starts small, will spread throughout the body, creating movements; the wind will carry us, make us fly. The earth will be our support, our refuge. The trees will be our playmates, our confidants. Nature is ispiring, it will help us to let the spontaneous, the intuitive, the natural come inside of us. Then we’ll join in with the group and finish with an energising vocal and dance ritual and a ritual of gratitude and respect for nature. If the workshop takes place before the show, it will also prepare the participants for the final dance, which invites the audience to dance for the tree. We’ll enjoy a beneficial experience for body, heart and mind in union with nature and other participants. Practical information : Audience: adults / possibility of children aged 6 to 12 accompanied by an adult. No previous dance experience is necessary, but participants will need to be able to move around on natural terrain. Creative workshops using plants, led by Oranne Mounition Working with plants is a school of life: we learn that nothing is permanent, everything is movement and transformation. It engages us to respect the environment: we pick plants with respect, we don’t pick protected species… It generates a return to our roots, reawakening our links with our ancestors and with the Earth, who provides us abundance. We become “eco-creators” by breaking away from the consumer society. Depending on the age of the participants and the plants used, the workshops can focus on jewellery making, wreath making, make-up, accessories or complete costumes. Practical information :
Duration: 2 hours
Langage : French or English. A translator would be greatly appreciated.
Number of participants: between 5 and 20. Space : Make sure that the space is isolated (no pedestrians passing by) so that participants feel free to express themselves without fear of prying eyes.
1 full day (6-hour workshop) for up to 6 adults
Workshops for children aged 6 and over: 1h30 for 6 children
Continuous workshops throughout the day
Intergenerational workshops: 10 participants
Workshop to make the actress’s costume during a 5-hour workshop for 3 adults maximum. This workshop must be held no later than the day before the show. Participants become co-creators of the show!
