Les Nouveaux Ballets du Nord-Pas de Calais

THE COMPANY

Founded in Lille in 2016, in the spirit of a true Dadaist fumisterie, the company Les Nouveaux Ballets continues the work of Amélie Poirier, a multidisciplinary artist working at the crossroads of movement, theatre and puppetry.

After creating documentary theatre performances (VOILÉES, 2018), the company now focuses its research on young audiences, particularly early childhood and, more recently, teenagers.

From one production to the next, and always attentive to the specific dramaturgical needs of each project, the company engages its performers in a continuous interplay with puppets, as well as with raw and tactile materials. Each new creation thus emerges from an ever-renewed approach.

The company also regularly develops community-based projects in rural and semi-rural areas of the Caudrésis-Catésis region, while also developing European projects.

AMÉLIE POIRIER

A multidisciplinary artist, Amélie Poirier was introduced to classical dance before turning to contemporary dance during various workshops and training sessions. At the same time, she studied drama at the Lille Conservatory (FR) and graduated with a Master 2 whose research focuses on the training of puppeteers in the West. Within this framework, she goes to several training courses for puppeteers in the USA, Montreal, Czech Republic, Finland etc.

In 2011 she performs and participates in the conception of the solo La Jeune fille et la morve, directed by Mathieu Jedrazak. This unclassifiable show is performed in labeled venues in France, at the Avignon OFF Festival as part of a regional selection, in Belgium and in Quebec at La Chapelle: contemporary stage in Montreal and at the Festival Folie Culture in Quebec City. This solo, allows her to be quickly identified in the region where she comes from: the North of France.

Since 2012, she has received several grants for emergence and research from the Decentralized Ministry of Culture of France, in connection with accredited structures (Le Phénix: National Stage of Valenciennes, the National Center of choreographic Development le Gymnase in Roubaix, the Théâtre du Nord/ National Dramatic Center of Lille-Tourcoing). In addition, she has been selected by the Decentralized Ministry of Culture of France to participate in 2012 in a multidisciplinary research laboratory with the choreographer Christian Rizzo, thus nourishing her interest in research. In June 2012, she is a finalist in the Extended Dance competition at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris.

Her encounter with Patricia Kuypers and Kirstie Simpson was importantl in her conception of improvisation in relation to materials and architecture. Her more recent approach to butô dance with Minako Seki in Berlin and Maki Wanatabe and then BMC (Body Mind Centering), immerses her in an organic research, opening a space on our interiority, connected to the surrounding space.

Wishing to bring together on stage bodies, objects and materials, Amélie Poirier trained in contemporary puppetry at the National Graduate School of puppetry arts in Charleville-Mézières (2008-2009), and more recently at the DESS in Contemporary Puppet Theater at UQAM in Montreal. Currently, she focuses her research on the relationship between body, movement, matter and seeks to transpose protocols from contact-improvisation, BMC and butô dance into the relationship to the object.

She is also one of the choreographers selected for the 3rd edition of the Prototype program at the Abbaye of Royaumont (2015-2016). Under the direction of choreographer Hervé Robbe, she is invited to question the notion of citation as a paradigm for choreographic creation.

In 2018, she is the winner of the choreographic writing grant from SACD Beaumarchais Foundation for the piece DADAAA for young audiences (creation 2019 at the TJP, National Dramatical Center of Strasbourg). She also carries out research oriented around the visual arts, echoing the shows she creates. In this context, she produces documentary films or video installations that she designs in duo with director Justine Pluvinage and more recently with composer Léonore Mercier, both from Le Fresnoy: National Studio of Contemporary Arts.

After practicing singing for several years and training in electro-acoustic music with the group Art Zoyd in Valen-ciennes, she developed the project SCOOOOOTCH! and fully reconnected with the electro-acoustic dimension of her approach.

Amélie Poirier is currently an associate artist at the Théâtre des Ilets /Dramatic National Center of Montluçon-Auvergne directed by Carole Thibaut. Soon she will be associated with the Grand Bleu in Lille: theater for young audience.