DANSONgS – Rencontre

A « dansong » is a new choreographic form in which words, melody and dance co-create a short poetic moment to be shared. Danced very close to the audience and sung a cappella, without microphones, it intends a more direct and intimate experience with the audience. DANSONgS is the artistic project supporting this endeavor. The first collection of dansongs, titled DANSONgS – Rencontre, was created by Foofwa in French as solos for himself in Nantes and Geneva in May 2018. It was then furthered as a duet for Alizée Sourbé and Foofwa in Lyon the following month. The whole collection was then adapted to the English language in the summer 2018. DANSONgS – Rencontre can therefore be shared with the public in a solo or a duet, in French or in English, notwithstanding all the possible adaptations in language and in gesture to each place, context and culture. It is to be performed in the middle of the audience in all sorts of spaces: on stages or in studios, in café-concerts or in apartments. On tour, after a couple of days of work, some of the dansongs can be adapted and recreated with and for other dancers, be they local professionals or amateurs. Part of the costumes can also be created with local artists in each place it is performed. The collection consists of 8 dansongs ranging from 3 to 8 minutes. Each dansong is a variation on the theme of the encounter: meeting the new artistic form of the dansong, meeting the public, remembering the encounter of loved ones, etc. The first dansong, titled ‘Salut’ is a friendly greeting poem about meeting the audience.
The second dansong, ‘Présence’, plays around the word ‘here I am’ in 10 different languages, as the first step of encountering: being present. The third is describing what is a dansong, that is an osmosis of lyrics, melody and dance. The fourth dansong, called ‘Parfaits Inconnus’, is about the ephemeral fantasy of meeting a perfect stranger in the flesh. The fifth, ‘La Douceur’, is more personal, describing how Foofwa’s daughter didn’t meet his own mother. Dansong number six and seven are still to be created: ‘MamPap’ (about the encounter of one’s own mother and father), and ‘L’Etincelle’ (a personal Foofwa’s dansong about falling in love with the mother of his daughters over the phone). The last dansong, ’T’unique’, celebrates the uniqueness of every one.