Mélissa Guex, DOWN (single version)
Monday 01 Jul 2024 from 8pm to 9pm
Free upon registration
With le Centre culturel suisse. On tour and with the support of Pro Helvetia.
DOWN (single version) is a choreographic creation for a drum set and a dancing body, a performative and explosive concert as an attempt to respond to the collective "down", an investigation into soul culture and punk music.
In contrast to everyday injunctions, dancer Mélissa Guex and drummer Clément Grin enter together into an unstable state, where everything affects, engages or precipitates. In the midst of the spectators, they share an explosive, unreasonable, generous, insatiable and collective dance into the abyss.
"I want to use the body and the stage to try and offer a solar and timeless breach. Down describes the moments of descent after ecstasy, the wave of depression, the sensation of the body letting go and the mind becoming detached. Through these exchanges, I question the rhythm of the descent, the music of the ascent, the body that freezes or follows this drumbeat of emotions. I also see the downstroke as a new setting in limbo where the bass drums beat out the rhythm to dance with the demons. And that's the moment I want to bring to the stage. Mélissa Guex
Credits :
Choreography and interpretation: Mélissa Guex
Drums: Clément Grin
Sound composition: Charlotte Vuissoz
Lighting and technical director: Justine Bouillet
Costumes and set design: Lucie Meyer
Administration and production: Milena Pellegrini
Artistic advisor: Alain Borek
Production: Cie Sumo
Coproduction: Théâtre Sévelin 36
Mélissa Guex developed a taste for the stage by practising theatrical improvisation and decided to train in both dance and theatre.She first studied at the Lassaad school in Brussels, which teaches movement theatre using the Lecoq pedagogy. She then went to study at La Manufacture in Lausanne, graduating in June 2019 with a Bachelor's degree in contemporary dance.
Following her studies, Mélissa became an associate artist at the Théâtre Sévelin and founded the SUMO company in Lausanne. She presented her solo work "sous-sol", followed by "Rapunzel" as choreographer and performer. She collaborates and participates in various artistic creations and worlds with, among others, Géraldine Chollet, Augustin Rebetez and Anna Marija Adomaityte for her piece "pas de deux".
Mélissa moves between the world of nightlife and the theatre, where she experiments with different forms of performance. She explores transformation through costume and uses urban space as a playground. With her company, Mélissa Guex and her team develop a gritty body of work, based on an elaborate aesthetic that is not devoid of darkness. She has kept a strong link with Brussels and regularly travels to the capital to take part in various events, notably in David Zambrano's centre.
Clément Grin is a member of Meimuna, Hold, Monument, Duo Sonore, Gr'Ørch, Bart Plugers Blossom and Blasphemy, and plays regularly for other projects that sometimes take him as far as China. He has performed at the Jazz Onze+ Festival, Les Docks, Jazzwerkstatt, Cully Jazz Festival, Bee-Flat and Moods. Several of his musical and visual productions are available. His group Monument will be releasing an album on Humus Records in 2023.
Laureate of the 2019 Barrière Foundation Talent and Creativity Grant and selected as an associate artist at l'ABRI for the 2020-2021 season, during which year he developed two multidisciplinary projects, including DANCE THE WORLD'S STILL MOVING with dancers Collin Cabanis and Fabio Zoppelli, which will be presented at the 2022 edition of the Antigel Festival.
In summer 2016, Clément Grin founded the Collectif du Présent, which brings together artists from the Canton of Vaud. Several creations combining dance, space and music will see the light of day: opening of the exhibition La Grand Place at the CACY in July 2016. In 2018, the collective presented Les Gouttes du Temps at the Castrum festival. That same year, Cie Synergie and Cie Moost asked Clément Grin to create an improvised dance piece.