RENDEZ-VOUS DANCE

Image by Luke Waddington

RENDEZ-VOUS DANCE’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MATHIEU GEFFRÉ TALKS TO HELEN REDFERN ABOUT HOW TIME AND SPACE ARE KEY TO CONTEMPORARY DANCE AND HOW SPANNING THE YEARS AND MILES CAN CREATE A PLACE WHERE WE ALL BELONG

Created in the North East and set to tour the region, the latest work from contemporary dance company Rendez-Vous Dance is set in Le Monocle, the 1930s Parisian lesbian cabaret club.

Having left France in 2009, Mathieu Geffré has had what he describes as a European career with “a sense of geography that goes beyond borders”. He’s delighted to bring the pure entertainment and celebration encapsulated in the Monocle to North East audiences.

The work is centred on the universal idea of shelter, that we each need to find a safe space in order to find freedom. In the Monocle in the 1930s, members of the LGBTQIA+ community created that safe space. Mathieu came across photos of Le Monocle through simple curiosity: “As a gay man, I’m passionate about the story of my community and where my community is coming from. The way the Monocle was in the 1930s is very much relevant to the way cities are nowadays – 90 years after the opening of the Monocle, we still have the necessity to shelter as a community to find a sense of freedom.”

Working with women and non-binary people to explore the lesbian cabaret club, Mathieu is fully aware that he is looking at a female story from the lens of identifying as a man, honestly acknowledging: “This is about me getting informed and listening, and approaching the story with a lot of care and respect.”

It’s by drawing this parallel of the desire to belong somewhere, and the need for a safe space for freedom of expression, that Mathieu believes the Parisian cabaret club from the 1930s can speak to the modern world through the language of contemporary dance.

THAT IT IS CABARET ALLOWED ME TO ADDRESS THE SENSE OF ENTERTAINMENT THAT IS MISSING FROM CONTEMPORARY DANCE IN GENERAL, OR AT LEAST THE WAY PEOPLE MAY THINK OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE AS AN ART FORM

“Within my research, I’m inspired from the specificities of these postures and dances from the 1930s and explore how these can be refreshed to nowadays within my language. The physicality is still very much of 2022, but everything starts from a place of historical research.”

The set is a reproduction based on pictures of the 1930s club, with the costume, choreography and music undergoing a modern 2022 twist. Stepping away from the traditional theatre settings and doing away with the fourth wall between performers and audience, there’s a sense of proximity, bringing everyone together, that is to be cherished. As part of the set for this production, there’s a little corner of the stage dedicated to the outside world, so that the visitors to the Monocle can see for themselves the difference between the outside and the inside world. The contrast is stark. A visit to the Monocle is thought-provoking, creating bridges and eradicating walls between different communities, but it’s also a lot of fun. “It’s a fun, party kind of celebration. That it is cabaret allowed me to address the sense of entertainment that is missing from contemporary dance in general, or at least the way people may think of contemporary dance as an art form.”

So step back in time to discover a more forward-thinking approach to others – and come and join the celebration!

In February, The Monocle is performed at Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle (Saturday 5th); Darlington Hippodrome (Thursday 10th); Alnwick Playhouse (Friday 11th); Hartlepool Borough Hall (Saturday 12th); Middlesbrough Town Hall Theatre (Wednesday 16th); Queen’s Hall Hexham (Thursday 17th); The Fire Station, Sunderland (Saturday 19th); The Witham, Barnard Castle (Thursday 24th) and Dance City, Newcastle (Saturday 26th). www.rendez-vousdance.com