Cuir
Arno Ferrera and Gilles Polet
45' | 12+ | Creation October 2020
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 it is also an illuminator.
Through the physical commitment to serving others with this archaic tool, the two acrobats seek a state where instinct and will become visible and tangible.
Anaïs Longiéras +33 617 15 39 38 / diffusion.armour@gmail.com
Tour dates
• 21 > 23.06 : Festival CIRCOS / São Paulo (Brésil)
https://circos.sescsp.org.br/
• 11 & 12.08 : Festival Multipistes - Le Sirque, Pôle national cirque / Nexon (France)
https://lesirque.com/multi-pistes-cirque-musique-et-arts-visuels
• 26 & 27.08 : Festival CIRK! - Cuulturcentrum De Werf / Aalst (Belgique)
https://www.ccdewerf.be/nl/
• 31.10 > 5.11 : Les Halles de Schaerbeek
Creators : Arno Ferrera, Mika Lafforgue & Gilles Polet
Performers : Arno Ferrera & Gilles Polet
Artistic direction : Arno Ferrera
External eye : Paola Rizza
Choreographic eye : Benjamin Kahn, Gilles Polet
Sound adviser : Amaury Vanderborght
Light design : Florent Blanchon
Light and sound technician : Pierre-Jean Faggiani
Saddler : Jara Buschhoff
Costumes design : Jennifer Defays
Booking, production : Anaïs Longiéras
Administration : Les Halles de Schaerbeek
With the complicity of Alexandre Fray, company Un loup pour l’homme
Many thanks to the company Un loup pour l’homme : Lou Henry, Caroline Cardoso, Emma Lefrançois
Photographer : Valérie Frossard
Video : Romain Vennekens
Press relations : Estelle Laurentin
Graphic design : Ekta
Delegated producer : Les Halles de Schaerbeek
CUIR has been produced by the company Un loup pour l’homme (FR)
Coproduction : Le Bateau Feu, SN de Dunkerque (FR), Theater op De Markt, Dommelhof (BE),
Larural, Créon (FR), Festival Perspectives, Sarrebrück (DE).
Support : Conseil Régional Hauts-de-France, SACD / Processus Cirque, Fonds Transfabrik (Fonds franco-
allemand pour le spectacle vivant). The company Un loup pour l’homme has been supported by le Ministère de la Culture / Direction régionale des affaires culturelles Hauts-de-France - aide aux compagnies
conventionnées.
Partners residencies : Tanzhaus Zürich (CH), Dommelhof Neerpelt (BE), L’échalier St Agil (FR), Larural
Créon (FR), Le Moulin du Roc SN de Niort with the complicity of Cirque en scène (FR), Latitude 50 pôle
arts du cirque et de la rue Marchin (BE), Katapult Berlin (DE), Le Prato PNC Lille (FR), La Faïencerie et La
Locomotive Creil (FR).
