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IJKIJK

IJK

IJK, the title shows i, j and k vectors of the three dimensions, in the space geometry.

IJK, is a volume, the volume of the stage, the volume in which is going to appear a movement and the writing of the movement follows here a logic of juggling.
Juggling of objects, where several volumes, parallelepipeds, are placed on the stage, and where the whole is conceived to be displaced, manipulated, as principal accessory of the actor. Its movement generates changes of space and makes us think of the Cubes Game of Oskar Schlemmer.

Juggling of bodies, where the three actors, two boys and one girl like in The Triadic Ballet, are using cubes as support and base of their movements and invest the inside of these volumes for an acrobatic research in confined spaces.

Juggling of balls finally, where the research is guided by the sound produced by balls when they bounce on and inside the cubes. This approach reveals the rhythmic and musical character of juggling. Here the acoustic volume is placed on the front.

With the fabrication of a music, IJK is akin to the idea of musical spectacle dear to the Bauhaus feasts, and also the idea of the burlesque actor. The graphics of lights which resumes in flat and widely the volumes present on stage places IJK at the meeting point between these two poles: between abstract art and the humour of the absurd. ?

Aurélien Bory – March 2006

IJK is about hearing the music in juggling.

 Aurélien Bory

the-new-york-times

Dance in Review
20 May 2008

Compagnie 111, New Victory Theater

When the French troupe Compagnie 111 last appeared in New-York in 2004, it brought a quietly captivating show, “Plan B”, that involved a fanciful well and spooky, illusionary tricks. It also possessed the sort of homespun imagination that hooked a child’s mind, yet appealed to adults.

While childlike and naïve, Compagnie 111 was never childish.

This physical-theater company has returned to the New Victory Theater with “IJK”, a 60-minute production that, frankly, seemed on Saturday to hold the most magic for the younger set (those under 10). The first work in a trilogy – which includes “Plan B” and “More or Less, Infinity” – “IJK” is a playful exploration of geometry and volume.

Conceived by Aurélien Bory, the company’s artistic director, the work is simply told through short scenes. Stripped on theatrical excess, “IJK” features Mr. Bory, Olivier Alenda and Anne de Buck, who rely on cubes, balls and, or course, the body to challenge ideas about perception and reveal the poetry behind physics.

“IJK” begins in the dark and gradually comes to life with Arno Veyrat’s lighting, which casts geometric shapes in cheerful greens ans oranges. Lines and angles – for instance, the way one cube tips sideways against another – figure in the work’s spatial design. After a while it becomes very “Sesame Street”.

As much as “IJK” relies on visual illusion, it is also an exploration of sound and rythm. In an early scene Ms. de Buck plays the accordion as bouncing balls add percussion ; later Mr Alenda juggles and dribbles balls while stomping out a brisk flamenco dance.

When compared with the memory of “Plan B”, the work is a disappointment. Bet “IJK” is never pretentious. When the tricks get tiresome, turn to a trick that works and watch it through a child’s eyes.

Gia Kourlas

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Distribution

With  Olivier Alenda, Aurélien Bory, Anne De Buck
And  Stéphane Ley, Arnaud Veyrat

Originaly directed by Christian Coumin
Revised by Phil Soltanoff
Conception  Aurélien Bory

Juggling research  Olivier Alenda, Aurélien Bory
Light design  Arnaud Veyrat
Sound engineer  Stéphane Ley
Costume  Sylvie Marcucci
Artistic collaboration  Thierry Dussout
Photographer  Aglaé Bory
Head of Production  Florence Meurisse
Production manager  Clément Séguier-Faucher
Press  Plan Bey Agency

PRODUCTION  Compagnie 111 – Aurélien Bory
COPRODUCTION  Théâtre de la Digue/Toulouse, Espace Apollo/ Mazamet.

With the support of : Conseil Régional Midi-Pyrénées, Conseil Général de la Haute-Garonne, Mairie de Toulouse, Studio de création du Lido / Centre des arts du Cirque de Toulouse.

IJK is the first part of a trilogy about space. The other parts, Plan B and Plus ou moins l’infini were created in collaboration with Phil Soltanoff.