Professional (De)formation
Solo documentary about the art of bending over backwards
About
Elodie Guézou invites us to live an intimate, aesthetic and political experience mixing contortion and theater. Her object of study? Her relationship to work and why and how she bent over backwards (literally and metaphorically).
Through fragments of life, she outlines her personal journey of professional deformation: the (non) choice of sector, her meeting with a professional circus artist, a voice message from her mother, her first contortion program, a number listing all the contortion performances she has undergone during her career... and finally the meeting with the specialist who diagnosed burnout.
A sensitive and offbeat sharing of experience to question our relationship to work.
* Note to visitors: The teaser on this page provides a glimpse of "(Dé)formation Professionnelle" as performed outdoors, in urban spaces. However, this show is also presented indoors, in theaters, under big tops, and in various other locations. Each space brings a unique dimension to the piece, while preserving the essence and intensity of this documentary solo.
Creation: March 14 and 15, 2024 – La Renaissance à Mondeville (14)
As part of the SPRING festival
Duration: 60 minutes
Audience: Recommended for ages 9 and up
Capacity: Maximum 150
Language : French
State space : 8m depth, 6m minimum width, 3.5m height
(including scenography and audience)
Possible Venues :
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Non-dedicated spaces: Café, multipurpose room, gymnasium, library, classroom, rehearsal room...
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Theatre stage: Audience on stage and in seating
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Tent: Semi-circular
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Outdoor: Non-passing location, schoolyard, in nature, or with a wall at the back of the stage
This performance can operate independently in terms of sound and lighting and does not require any rigging.
Success: female
Favorable outcome, happy result,
Business, action, work that is successful,
Synonym: Achievement – Opposite: Failure
Context note (From the author)
Since 2009, I have been collecting memories: documents, experiences, related to my work and my relationship to work. I gathered all this "life-material", and I reconstructed the story.
Then I took my research further: I asked experts, relatives, strangers about my profession, and about the profession in general.
Through this piece, I would like to invite you to take a look at an art that we all master in our own way:
I'm talking about the art of bending over backwards.
The Littré dictionary defines the verbal expression "to bend over backwards" as the act of doing everything possible for something, devoting oneself to the maximum, giving oneself trouble...
For my part, I became a contortionist for convenience. I started my professional training at 23. I am 36 years old.
During my journey, I noticed that, beyond the looks of wonder at the performance or the admiration for surpassing oneself, people talk to me about pathological activities. For example, they worry about the well-being of my back. They tell me that you have to be crazy to practice contortion, even masochistic.
And as for my career, I am regularly asked if a contortionist lives long.
So you will see, there is no suspense since at the end of this play, we know that a contortionist can live at least until 36 years old.
And surprisingly, she can also continue to practice her profession.
If it is attempted to be considered a profession.
You know, parents often hope that their children succeed in life. Synonymous with happiness and fulfillment, no doubt. But when do we consider ourselves successful in our lives?
And how – on a daily basis – do we bend over backwards to achieve this goal?
Distribution
With Elodie Guezou – Contortionist
And Jules Pierret or Vianney Davienne – Technical Managers
Creation
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Text, Concept : Elodie Guezou
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Collective direction
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Sound Environment : Nicolas Richez and Jules Pierret
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Outside eye : Lucho Smit
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Writing and Dramaturgy Consultant : Emilie Bonnafous-Armengol
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Choreographic Guidance : Lisie Philip / Compagnie Antipodes
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Costumes : Elsa Pottier
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Acting Direction : Charly Labourier
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Sociological Collaboration : Magali Sizorn / Researcher in Sociology and Lecturer at the University of Rouen
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Medical Collaboration : Dr Michel Ritz / Specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
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Lighting Design : Vianney Davienne
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Scenographic Construction : Alexis Morsalinne, and Félix Debarre
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Occasional Insights : Aurélie Dujarrier, Pauline Sol Dourdin, Alexandre Pavlata / Compagnie N8, and Mathieu Dochtermann
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Special Thanks to Yaqin Deng, Martine Guezou, Danielle Le Pierrès, Daniel Kenisberg, Antoine Tyce and Sébastien Armengol
Professional life: feminine,
Professional life: (feminine noun)
Sphere in which a person evolves in his work.
Personal life: Juslaborist notion,
All acts that do not fall under the authority of the employer: the private sphere, including family, leisure and personal relationships.
Often considered the perfect negative of professional life.
"What a pleasure to have taken us into an unknown environment that is the world of entertainment! What a pleasure to make us think about our life on earth and our desire to succeed: for whom? for what? For oneself: to please oneself and achieve what one wants ."
Philip,
March 14, 2024, Spring Festival, Excerpt from the guestbook
Partners
Production: AMA Company
Winner of the 2020 circus writing aid from the Beaumarchais-SACD association.
Co-productions
- Carré Magique, Pôle national cirque Bretagne à Lannion (22),
- Théâtre La Renaissance, Mondeville (14),
- Espace périphérique - Ville de Paris/ La Villette (75),
- Festival cirque d’été – Niort (79),
- Théâtre Juliobona – Lillebonne (76),
Supports
- Le Plongeoir, Pôle national cirque Le Mans Sarthe Pays de la - Loire, Le Mans (72),
- Ay- Roop, Scène de territoire - Rennes (35),
- L’Etincelle, Théâtre de la ville de Rouen (76),
- Ville de Tourville-La-Rivière (76),
- Ville de Saint-Pierre-Lès-Elbeuf (76)
Institutional
- Ville de Rouen
- Département Seine-Maritime
- Région Normandie
- DRAC Normandie.
Professional deformation: feminine, (work)
A way of acting or thinking acquired through repetition
in the context of professional practice
and having repercussions in the private sphere. EG