Bartabas

“Today, an ever-increasing source of pleasure for me is to spend time, alone, in the company of my horses, very early in the morning, before man springs to life. Sunrise, with the silence and concentration that it brings, is when mind and body are most profoundly open to each other. As a performer, I am always in search of these moments of grace, unrepeatable as they are.
In this show, what I want to do is show how, in simple terms, devotion to your work, art, in deep communication with your horse, can summon up emotion of a universal nature. This is an adventure which places the spectator in a position of proximity, or intimacy, almost to the point of impudence. My hope is that these things which are not meant for seeing, can take us by surprise.”
Bartabas

TSAR
Coeur vaillant
Horses are just like lightning, they come upon you when you are least expecting it… a huge, monster of a horse with wither height of one metre eighty centimetres! Coloured the same as the abyss, it defies all sense of perspective. From a distance, it resembles a thoroughbred from bygone days, like one of those English prints; up-close, it is a giraffe, gangly and black. It has to bow its head in order to get past the door of its horse-box. As we come even closer, its hooves are as big as frying pans. Standing up next to its shoulder, gestures from childhood come back to me - even on tiptoes I cannot see the horizon behind its wither. And I am moved once again, astride this giant with gentle eyes who, perhaps for the very last time, will carry the cheeks of my bottom off on a new adventure.
Extract taken from D’un cheval à l’autre, Bartabas, published by Éditions Gallimard

In collaboration with Ircam, Manuel Poletti will create the sound output, generated and modified in real time, thereby putting into music the intimacy of this physical coming together of man and horse.
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Estimated running time : 1h10
Shows from 12 years old