Looking for M.
interdisciplinary solo show / creation 2027
« I felt like a chameleon, adapting to different situations and eras. My only vocabulary was acrobatics, a straitjacket of forms through which I could no longer express myself. The assault I suffered was like an electric shock. I was alone and once again on the ground. I saw this as a rebirth being offered to me, where the absurd had to transcend the tragic. »
In 2023, artist Basile Herrmann Philippe was the victim of a violent attack in which he was left lying on the ground. In this solo performance, he sets himself a goal: to try to get back on his feet to dance. Guided by the rhythm of his knee pads striking the floor, he decides to reclaim this humiliation. At the audience’s feet, the acrobat performs a choreography on all fours, searching for an upright position that seems to him to be the only way out. However, his desire for transformation will take him somewhere else entirely.
The artist disappears into a large black shape that obscures his human appearance and transforms into a strangely shaped silhouette, trapped on a catwalk. The body undergoes a metamorphosis; its prosthetics and protective gear fall away. The hips awaken, and the face is revealed. Then the abdomen undulates, revealing an unexpected fluidity. From the all-fours position to the final podium, the performer sculpts his body without erasing the traces of the past. He carries an egg with him. Whatever our past may be, a future in which we can become ourselves awaits us. Is it time to be reborn… or to give life?
In this autobiographical form, the artist creates a circus that plays with the boundaries between dance and performance. Looking for M seeks the middle ground, the space where multiple versions of oneself coexist, beyond the binary.
Creation – interpretation : Basile Herrmann Philippe
Dramaturgy : Bettina Blanc Penther
Musical composition : Félix Chaillou
Circus outside eye : Mirandonna Sirkka
Performance outside eye : Peter James
Costume design : Alisson Schmitt
Light design : Dgiorgia Chaix
Tour management : Félix Chaillou
Coproduction : La Millenial Academy (Caen FR), Scène Nationale de Châteauroux
Residencies : L’Abri (Genève), Compagnie Nathalie Pernette (FR), Scène Nationale de Besançon (FR), Scène Nationale de Châteauroux (FR), Centre Dramatique National de Caen(FR), Subtopia (Stockholm), with the support of centre chorégraphique national de Caen en Normandie, direction Alban RICHARD, CENTQUATRE-PARIS Résidences d’essais (FR), micadanses-Paris.
Grants : City of Besançon – Dispositif Emerging, Région Bourgogne Franche-Comté, SPEDIDAM grant for the creation of a soundtrack
Thanks to dialogue partners : Maxime Steffan, Luce Lainé, Olivier Neveux, Cecil Lewelling, Constance Diard, Muriel Garric, Pierre Piton et Angélique Cabanes
Compagny’s office and administration : Annick Bertrand, Serge Kolski et Dominique Aujouannet
« Looking for M is an interdisciplinary form that no longer denies the acrobat within me. In it, I explore the masculinity of my body, its explosive movements, and their androgyny. I am creating a performance in which identity is asserted as ambiguous, where humiliation is a source of strength, and where the pleasure of transformation is shared.
Through this exploration of the all-fours position, I unfold a physicality that transcends the animalistic and sexualised aspects of the posture, without denying them. I demonstrate how this position, often seen as restrictive, becomes a movement of emancipation and freedom. In this way, I create a vocabulary where identity and technical skill blur, becoming a bodily state that evokes empathy and curiosity. As the piece unfolds, the quest for verticality transforms and shifts, freeing the body from the constraints that surround it. I question the imperative to transform in solitude, the possibility of finding alternative ways of eroticising the heterosexual male body, and the desire for success… in front of an audience. »
Photos credits : Bettina Blanc Penther