La Bête Noire & Petite Reine

Published on 23 October 2024

La Bête Noire

To be nothing but a body, a dehumanized body. In this solo show, Raphaëlle Boitel engages in performative choreography. A metaphor for her past as a contortionist, the work tells the story of a woman acrobat whose work damages her body as it also brings her happiness.

Set against a magnificent backdrop featuring a subtle and sublime use of light, she sketches out the daily battles she wages against her bêtes noires.

Whether on the floor or an circus apparatus that resembles a column with 24 vertebrae, she twists and contorts in a thousand different ways, appearing like a thread that is ready to snap at any moment. Her performance is a genuine physical feat and a disturbing mirror of the suffering we sometimes inflict upon ourselves.

Petite Reine

This biting, clownish performance about control was created after a meeting between the director Raphaëlle Boitel and the acrobatic cyclist Fleuriane Cornet. It follows Edith, a luminous and optimistic young woman who is prey to the contradictory demands of the man she loves.

To rid herself of her torments and finally exist with a free spirit, she sets off on a mad race. On the stage, her bike is her partner in the adventure. It is also her confidant as she shares her feelings about the pressures she faces.

In this sensitive and sensory tale, audiences will discover everything that makes Raphaëlle Boitel’s shows so charming: acrobatic performances, a quirky text, and a remarkable interplay of light and shadow.

Founded in 2012, the Compagnie L’Oublié(e) is led by director and choreographer Raphaëlle Boitel. The company has a distinctive approach to the contemporary circus, mixing the arts (theatre, circus, dance, music, film) and inventing new apparatuses for each new show. The result is a blend of tragedy and comedy that are conjured up in a profoundly metaphorical style.