le temps qu’il fait

Le temps qu’il fait

recital/concert

« If the future and the past exist, I would like to know where they are… “ (Saint Augustin)

At the origin and heart of this project are the diaries of Madeleine, the “concierge” of the building where Sylvie Reteuna lived for many years. Each day she would note down the weather in great detail, including the temperature, but also national and world events (“start of Ramadan”, speech by Mitterand”), and domestic details (“Defrosted the fridge”, “lunch with Christian”). There were the Sundays when “I stayed at home” and a recurrent and enigmatic phrase “My wardrobe cracked”

Taking the diaries as a starting point, we decided to put into place a community project in Dunkirk on the theme of “le temps”, which in French means both weather and time. Working with different structures – three social centres, a library, a secondary school, an arts centre, an association run by mentally challenged people and the conservatoire of Dunkirk – we assembled a group of participants, establishing a programme of workshops all through 2015. There were writing workshops at the library, photo workshops with the Chateau Coquelle and theatre workshops in the social centres. We worked closely with the composer Stéphane Taniel, and at the end of the year presented a recital/concert where the participants were joined by a string quartet and a pianist.

Le Temps qu’il fait gave birth to other projects. We worked with a class of 13 year olds over 6 months to make a performance Calme je suis comme le temps gris which included writing, sound and photos. We presented an installation of photos and texts at the Chateau Coquelle Arts Centre le temps qu’il fait, le temps qui passe. And we met Joanna Jones and Clare Smith of Dover Arts Development, with whom we invented an international version Weathertime, which culminated in a collective film and a day of pluridisciplinary workshops in the artist’s space Fructose, on the docks of Dunkirk.

click to play video

Devised by : Kate France (Ciel 56) and Sylvie Reteuna (La Sibylle) / Composer : Stéphane Taniel / Text research : Sylvie Reteuna / Video : Kate France 

Performed by : Christelle Andries, Leo Andries, Jonathan Borowski, Noella Cattiau, Joelle David, Christiane Diana, Thérèse Galliot, Kamel Kerboua, Anne Sara Koterba, Anrafa Mohammed ali, Isabelle Vanbelle et Fabrice Vannobel 

Musicians : Emmanuelle Maggesi : piano / Frédéric Daudin-Clavaud : violin / François Delannoy : violin / Max Dupuis : viola / Véronique Rousselle : cello

Conducted by : Kate France

Participation, research : Pauline Beys, Kevin Bignolas, Jean-Luc Duval, Viviane Gehin, Marie-Jo Gobert, Christophe Gruwez, Bertrand Heroguer, Marie Annick Lapert, David Lepoutre, Véronique Malhomme, Andréa Manceau, Thierry Robic, Benoit Rubben, Anne Ryckeboer, Edith Van Hove

Administration : Christine Tournecuillert – Conduite Accompagnée

Production : La Sibylle / Partners : les Maisons de quartier La Timonerie, Soubise et Ile Jeanty, Le Château Coquelle, le Réseau des bibliothèques de Dunkerque, le Collège Guilleminot, l’Association Nous Aussi, Conservatoire de Musique et d’Art Dramatique de Dunkerque / Financial support from : l’ADUGES, la Ville de Dunkerque, le Conseil départemental du Nord et la Communauté Urbaine de Dunkerque / Thanks to Bateau Feu – Scène Nationale de Dunkerque.

Le temps qu’il fait recital/concert was presented on the 15th December 2015 at the Auditorium Bizet, Dunkerque.