KOCHI: The open-air auditorium at Bharat Bhavan in the city was packed as the place was filled with light and music, a unique musical performance being part of the evening. Artiste Francois Chat soon assumes centrestage, ready to present his street theatre piece ‘Le Sacre du Printemps des Rues’, an adaptation of the famous Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s musical choreographic ballet ‘The Rite of Spring’. ‘Le Sacre du Printemps des Rues’ is based on the festival of spring and a rite, in which a young girl is chosen among a crowd of girls for a ritual of sacrifice. Playing his part, juggler-cum-theatre artiste Francois comes dancing on to the stage, accompanied by slow enchanting music.
A work celebrating the delightful season of spring, the dancer steps in, moving to the slow enchanting music and sounds of nature. With no accompanying artistes, his dance partners are nothing but a set of balls. He sways, swirls and plays with them. With the revelry eventually reaching a crescendo, the dancer glides and moves, juggling the balls effortlessly, to the steps of contemporary ballet.
For Francois, the performance was a challenging one in itself.
“This is basically a ballet with many dancers, both women and men. But I wanted to make my adaptation different, and so came up with a solo performance, with the juggling balls becoming the other dancers. In this piece, which is my first open air performance, instead of bringing nature to the stage, I perform in the outdoors,” he says.Though this is the first time his theatre piece is performed in the city, the artiste had created the work a few years ago to perform as part of the spring festival in France.
The piece was again performed in the country during the year 2013, the anniversary of Stravinsky’s original musical work. The artist says, though his current performance is an adaptation, he created this ballet piece for open air theatre performances a few years ago with modernist music elements. “This piece is my attempt to play along with the story of the ritual and interpret it in my own way with a solo juggling performance. The balls become the ‘young girls’ and I choose one among them,” he said.For Francois, it is the dancer’s playful mood, portraying the magic of the moment, that makes the piece special. Theatre and dance, combined with his unique style had always been a passion for Francois. Also exhibiting a love for juggling at a young age, he adds, “My first performance was a solo juggling dance piece called flip flop, at the age of ten years.” The actor cum director will be giving another performance in the city on November 8 as part of another literary event.