Seeded throughout kilometers of shoreline, docks, riparian forests and bridges, the curious will that night, the most beautiful theater in the world!
DRifT summons the energy of the elements to parade the individual and communal mutations of a society in upheaval:
Here is the OTHER, the other in movement, mobile, the other ourselves, under the mask, the fugitive appearance, skin of allure, envelope of parade, image for recognition.
And here’s the WATER that carries us along, the living water that carries us along, that crosses and even frees itself from borders. Water also carries people, those from elsewhere, those who leave everything behind.
Like the Pied Piper of the Grimm brothers, carrying away the rats and then the children, we exorcise the city of human footprints that will leave on the water.
Guided by an enchanting musician on a perched boat, a small disembodied people of transparent silhouettes float down the river.
These swaying, luminous chimeras are escorted by three shepherds sailing like rats on petal-boats.
We approach, attracted by a flight of bells or sensitized by the flute tunes, and the river seems inhabited; on the black water, a hundred bodies sway, reflections of humans, a luminous troupe following the musician.
What are we evacuating, seen from the bridge, from the banks, from the quays? The dead of the night, fake news and misconceptions, the worst of ourselves, the sick, the foreign?
Traces of a disembodied living being, mules of men, a whole population is about to leave the city, at night, almost at the sound of a wood bell.
Like sheepdogs around a flock, three rats surround these silhouettes and bring in the strays.
Parade, flight, exodus, quarantine, demonstration, festival, nave of fools, migration, procession, cavalcade, wedding – what force carries the river along? Water as factory of the past and utopian horizon, water in these times!
A permanent dance expresses the diversity of individuals and the gregariousness of a social group.
Performance, theater, sound composition and visual arts are all part of this creation.
The 100 moults
One hundred transparent silhouettes equipped with floats, integrated lighting and solar panels. Underwater counterweights ensure their verticality.
LED lamps, solar cells and batteries provide daytime recharging and night-time illumination.
These transparent avatars are real sailboats, highly sensitive to the slightest wind and water movement.
The flagship
At the head of the transhumance, the flautist’s mobile, floating craft is a platform with a clad structure, treated as an extension of the musician’s body, housing sound amplification and lighting.
Shepherd’s mounts
Like lively sheepdogs on the water with their electric motors and foghorns, the escort rats sail on skiffs of our own design, mounts more than boats. They help to blur the space with smoke and bring the drifting sculptures together.
Stage management
For security and stage management, four nautical directors on 2 boats accompany this strange armada.
Solar-powered performance for water and air currents
Just as we entrust theatrical transport to the river through its currents and turbulence, the breeze and wind will also assume their roles, with a thousand movements animating these glass avatars.
Their nocturnal luminosity will be the rendering of the day’s sun captured by photovoltaic floats, day lighting up the night.
The flow of water will condition the temporality of the show, and the time it takes to cross the city, assessed in situ during the scouting, will be used to set the timetable for these quayside rendezvous.
All energies will play with the actors, they are part of the script!
NB: DéRives is also available as a playful installation for lakes, canals, seas and ponds. See DéRives fun installation in the installation section.
Performance times with actors in the installation can also be envisaged. See DéRives performance installation in the water show section.
Scène de rue, Toulouse / Carnaval de Venise, Italie / MicroMacro, Reggio Emiglia, Italie / Chalon dans la rue / Arhus Festüge / Festival Internacional de Teatro, Grenade, Espagne / Fira de Teatre al carer, Tarrega, Espagne / Mimos, Périgueux / Festival de la Côte d’Opale
