Shall we dance ? |Work in progress|

Cie 4120.corps

Set Designer / General Stage Manager /Artistic Collaborator

Location: Maison Folie Wazemmes, La Chaufferie

The performance Coquelicots, or Shall We Dance? explores the physical endurance of the female body—its resilience, persistence, and the pleasure or unease of moving tirelessly. Three women—two dancers and an actress-singer—take the stage, together or separately, occupying space and time with vibrant, unceasing motion.The work draws its origins from interviews conducted by Nancy Naous between 2018 and 2020 with mothers and wives of those who disappeared during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). Nancy asked, “How do you pass the time? How do you bear this absence?” One mother of a missing son answered, “What do you want me to do? I move!” She moves, she dances. They move. They dance.

Scenographic Space

Time passes, bodies transform in waiting, gestures repeat. Like modern Penelopes, these women wait and grow ever stronger. They trace the same gestures, weaving an imaginary web. This web is made of memories, objects, the time that has passed, and transformations. My starting point for this artistic creation was thread, the primary material of weaving and a symbol of connection. I chose to explore the concept of thread and weaving using a recycled, contemporary material: rubber from inner tubes. I transformed over three hundred inner tubes into long strands of varying thicknesses, experimenting with weaving, braiding, cutting, and stitching. In this way, I created costume elements that are scenographic, playing with the accumulation of material, length, and weaving. The performance space is defined by a white square, 6 meters by 6 meters. This boundary, reminiscent of a boxing ring, heightens the sensation of repetition and power, adding a dramaturgical dimension focused on vitality and daily resilience, rather than victimizing women. This timeless space is sometimes filled by a mass of black material, evoking long strands of hair that symbolize both waiting and the passage of time. These strands become armor, spaces of memory, and links to the past, while also embodying the present.

Distribution: Choreography: Nancy Naous /Performers: Nancy Naous, Dalia Naous, Dounia Massoud /Music: Hadi Zeidan /Lighting: Marine Flores / Set Design and Props et Stage Management: Marta Pasquetti /Costumes: Federico Feiroldi

Partnerships: Maison folie Wazeem
With the support of : l’Atelier des Artistes en Exil, l’Atelier de Paris CDCN, la Briqueterie CDCN, CND, STC, Le Relais de Pantin.