Collectif Coin-Maxime Houot & Rachid Ouramdane + Jean-Baptiste Julien Hautes fréquences : EtSi... + Variations²

Through a clever interplay of light and dark, this piece seems to get space moving. Whether it is the rotating light machine operated by Maxime Houot or the whirling movements of Lora Juodkaite, the dialogue of these forces choreographed by Rachid Ouramdane takes us both into the quietness of the eye of the storm and the force of the movement around it.  

Its title alone, EtSi (what if) – in its perfectly suggestive concision – stimulates one’s imagination and opens up a range of endless possibilities. Both unclassifiable and boundless – the piece was conceived symbiotically by French visual artist/musician Maxime Houot and choreographer Rachid Ouramdane and Lithuanian dancer Lora Juodkaite, a long-time collaborator of the choreographer. Known for her phenomenal ability to spin around in trance-like fashion, she has worked with Rachid Ouramdane for more than 15 years. Their new trio accomplishment takes the form of a fluttering ballet of projectors over a magnetic electronic soundtrack. EtSi builds on this highly sensory experience and emphasizes its kinetic dimension, featuring a whirling dance score composed by Rachid Ouramdane and performed by Lora Juodkaite.  

Jérôme Provençal 

After composing the music for the show Variation(s) by Rachid Ouramdane, Jean-Baptiste Julien offers a film version with live music. This time, the piece is projected on a big screen and filmed by Jean-Camille Goimard in a layered montage of several Chaillot auditoriums. Five musicians perform his electro-pop score in a sonic and immersive visual setup.  

Music in motion and movement to music, act 2. Variation(s) is primarily a dance piece created by Rachid Ouramdane in 2019 and set to music by Jean-Baptiste Julien. It juxtaposes and links together two very different solos, performed by longtime collaborators tap dancer Ruben Sanchez – offering an organic and percussive score – and Annie Hanauer in a flitting dance performance.  Now at the heart of Variations² is a film accompanied by live music – conceived by Jean-Baptiste Julien and filmed by Jean-Camille Goimard – highlighting the trance-like connection between dance and music. At the edges of electronic music, jazz and minimalism, these catchy and melodious compositions, now subdued and dreamy, now straightforward and fast-paced, are performed live by five musicians manning two pianos, four keyboards, a guitar, a double bass and a drum kit. In a heartbeat, recorded sound becomes a living thing and vice versa.  

Vincent Théval 

EtSi… est un triptyque. Trois personnes, telles trois entités, structurent un récit pendant une quarantaine de minutes. La machine, Lora [Juodkaite] et moi-même. Nous avons écrit une partition à trois ou plutôt à quatre avec la lumière. Je conçois la lumière comme une entité en tant que telle et non comme un outil. 

Maxime Houot pour balto