ARNO FERRERA & GILLES POLET: CUIR

In a powerful body-to-body confrontation, two harnessed men play at manipulating each other’s bodies. The cautious pleasure they take in transforming each other into an instrument, an apparatus, a playground, or a battlefield engages them in a struggle with mutual consent. Between traction and attraction, they do not aim for power over the other, but rather power with the other. 

In Cuir, Arno Ferrera and Gilles Polet seek to maintain a relationship of person to person, which does not call for a conflicting confrontation, nor a win-lose relationship. One may want to subordinate the other, to force him to follow, to impose a situation on him, but the other may also be in a state of acceptance, in a willingness to follow this obligation. Both men then enjoy their positions, with consent, without any hierarchy.

To do this, they explore the capacities of their bodies with the help of equestrian harnesses, usually reserved for draught work and ploughing. The strength thus acquired allows them to be gentle. Not only does the harness amplify the potential of human traction, but with this archaic tool, the two performers seek a state where instinct and will become visible and tangible

#nothing without consent #nothing without consent #nothing without consent #nothing without consent

performers/creators: Arno Ferrera & Gilles Polet * authors: Arno Ferrera & Mika Lafforgue * artistic direction: Arno Ferrera * external eye: Paola Rizza * choreographic eye: Benjamin Kahn & Gilles Polet * sound creation: Amaury Vanderborght * light design: Florent Blanchon * light and sound technician: Pierre-Jean Faggiani * saddler: Jara Buschhoff * costume design: Jennifer Defays * administration, production, booking: Caroline Cardoso & Lou Henry * booking: Anaïs Longiéras * press: Estelle Laurentin * video: Romain Vennekens * photographer: Valérie Frossard * graphic design: Ekta

©Valérie Frossard, Jevgenija Cholodova, Fabiano Lauciello, Edouard Barra