At this year’s Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps, Swiss choreographer Yasmine Hugonnet and her team present a version of their 2022 production “Les Porte-Voix – Cabaret Ventriloque” adapted for young audiences.
During the development of the original piece, it became clear that the topic would also be suitable for children: ventriloquism, after all, is fascinating for both young and old. In centuries past, people proficient in this mysterious technique were considered possessed or thought to be wizards or witches.
Yasmine Hugonnet builds on her tongue-in-cheek exploration of the history of ventriloquism and translates her exhaustive research into an impressive cabaret where three dancers and their voices, singing, and movements meet on the stage. What happens when someone does not move but instead is moved? And what about if they speak with a voice that is not their own?
As in the case of Russian dolls – these brightly painted wooden figurines hidden inside one another – the human voice emerges from deep inside one body and tells the story of another one – particularly the female body.
Through this lens Hugonnet not only examines a fascinating art form, but also gives voice to a sex that has been silenced for centuries.
With the adapted version of the play, Hugonnet makes an important contribution to the awareness of gender questions among young audiences: “Les Porte-Voix Junior” combines playful humour, estrangement, and joy with carefully researched facts about historically determined body images and their unequal representation in society.
Simply put: The topic of this piece is ventriloquism. How does this strange technique work? Three dancers combine song, movement, and voice. The piece was adapted for children and families.
Trailer «Les Porte-Voix Junior» (French Version)
Children describe «Les Porte-Voix Junior». (With German subtitles. The video shows excerpts from the original version.)
Info
Duration: 45 minutes followed by a 15-minute exchange with the audience, no intermission
Spoken language: French or German (according to region)
Age recommendation: 6+
Content warnings: none
World premiere: 18.4.2024, Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne
Further information: yasminehugonnet.com
For the whole family
Südpol is offering a program on Sunday, May 12th, that fits perfectly for Mother's Day: A family day with two performances of "Les Porte-Voix Junior" (10 am and 2 pm), brunch, and a children's disco. You can find more information here (in German).
Further information about the piece can be found here (in French).
Credits
Choreography, text, and concept: Yasmine Hugonnet
Performers: Jenna Hendry, Simon Ramseier, Nina Richard
Artistic collaboration and composition: Michael Nick
Scenography and costume: Nadia Lauro
Assistant: Anaïs Kauer
Lighting: Dominique Dardant
Sound Direction: Patrick Gross
Costume production: Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne
Administration/production: Olga Benne, Violaine DuPasquier
Diffusion/production: Jérôme Pique
Mediation: Anaïs Kauer, Yasmine Hugonnet
Ventriloquism training for dancers: Yasmine Hugonnet
Photography: Anne-Laure Lechat
Production: Arts Mouvementés
Corproduction: Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne; Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps; T2G Théâtre de Gennevilliers – Centre Dramatique National
Supported by: Pro Helvetia – Schweizer Kulturstiftung; Corodis; Loterie Romande. The company Arts Mouvementés receives financial support of the Canton of Vaud and the city of Lausanne.
Yasmine Hugonnet
Yasmine Hugonnet is a Swiss dancer and choreographer. She was educated at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris and completed, among others, the “Dance Unlimited” master program in the Netherlands. In 2009 she founded her own company Arts Mouvementés. Since then, she has devised numerous choreographic works, primarily solo pieces such as “Le Récital des Postures,” which received a Swiss Dance Award in the category contemporary dance in 2017. In 2021 “La Peau de l’Espace” won the Federal Office of Culture’s Swiss Dance Production of the Year award. Hugonnet’s work is based on intricate research and incorporates a number of approaches from other disciplines. Her pieces have been co-produced at Théâtre Vidy in Lausanne since 2018. For Migros Cultural Percentage’s Steps Festival the choreographer presents “Les Porte-Voix – Cabaret Ventriloque” as well as “Les Porte-Voix Junior - Cabaret Ventriloque,” a version adapted for young audiences. Picture © Anne-Laure Lechat
