VisuelBartKootstra AnoutdoorshowbasedonAmericanfolksongs Creationin2015
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deck-hand singing on the steamboat deck, The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, The woodcutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown, The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing, Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, The day what belongs to the day at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1867 PhotoAndreaGaal,Austria LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 2
LesClandestinesareexploringtherootsofNorthernAmericanmusic, particularly in the South East of the United States, from Virginia to Tennessee, from Kentucky to Georgia, from the Appalachian MountainstotheDeltaoftheMississippi Theirvoicesarebackedupbytheroughenergyoftheguitarandthe drums. They create the sounds of a world being built. Amid a pandemoniumofwoodandmetal,theyhurriedlybuildgangplanks, temporaryshelters,façadesandrailroadtracks. Theirpowerfulsongstellthestoryofwideopenspacesandofthose thatstrodeupontheminsearchofanewlifeinthenewworld.they use Walt Whitman s words to praise Nature and the space that mankindhasconquered. Theirshowisaninvitationtorediscoverarepertoirethathasgreatly influencedourownmusicalhistory. PhotoAndreaGaal,Austria LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 3
LESCLANDESTINES BOOTS AND ROOTS AnewoutdoorshowbasedonAmericanfolksongs CREATIONin2015 Durationwanderingpart:20'/secondpart(setoutdoorspace):50' ArtisticdirectorsAnneLemeunierandRégineWestenhoeffer MusiciansVincentPostyandMathieuGoust MusicalarrangementsVincentPostyandLesClandestines Actresses BéatrizBeaucaire,VéroniqueBorg,CaroleBreyer,DominiqueHardy,Naton Goetz,AnneLemeunier,VirginieMeyer,RégineWestenhoeffer, EmmanuelleZanfonato CostumesSabineSiegwalt ConstructionOlivierLaurent ManagerStéphanieLépicier/AZADProduction_Strasbourg PRODUCTIONLesClandestines COLLABORATIONFestivalLaStradaGraz(Autriche)/ VivaLioux(France), l EspaceMalrauxdeGeispolsheim(France),ScènesetTerritoiresen LorrainewiththeCentredecréationouvertauxartsencampagneetla compagnieazimuts(france) FINANCIALSUPPORT Ministryofculture(Ministèredelacultureetdela communication/dracalsace),cityofstrasbourg,regionofalsace, SPEDIDAM LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 4
I come from a family of professional and amateur musicians. My family traveled from North to South and East to West, to finally settle down in Wyoming. My mother lived in Laramie before she came to live in France. My Canadian grandfather used to sing in a barbershop quartet; my uncle played the guitar in several country and bluegrass groups; my grandmother improvised on the piano and sang all sorts of tunes that she remembered from different musicals. On the piano used to sit a few books such as «The American song bag» by Carl Sandburg and J.J. Niles s «Ballad book», as in many other American families. I grew up in the South of France, listening to the records that my family had brought back from the United States: Bessie Smith and Mahalia Jackson, New Orleans jazz, bluegrass music I could feel the power of the voices, I related in a strong and intimate way to the musical styles and to the language that was still alive in me. As an adult living in a French environment, I felt animated with the desire to sing in English, the language of my first musical experiences. Then came the desire to share this repertoire and to investigate with others the American roots of our present musical language. Anne Lemeunier, June 2013 PhotoAndreaGaal,Austria LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 5
American roots music FolkmusicintheUnitedStatesresultsfromthecrossingofallthedifferent traditions brought by the migrants from Europe, the slaves coming from Africa,aswellasIndianinfluences. Negro spirituals, work songs, blues, old_time music, country and Western music,cajunmusicandtejanomusicamongothersareallapartofwhat has recently been described as American roots music. These forms were borninthesouthofthecountry,andarebasicallyderivedfromtwogreat musicaltraditions:afroamericanmusicononeside,andthemusicofthe White people on the other side. These two traditions have always developedsidebyside,sometimesasareactiontooneanother,butmostly neverceasingtoinfluenceandnourisheachother. Thesecombinationsandcontrastshavealwayssustainedacreativetension that, still nowadays, is the main source of influence of our own popular music,overhereineurope. The American repertoire is an extraordinary playing field for European musicians.itisextremelyrich,variedandexpressive. The importance of American roots music in European culture MusichasbeenastrongbasisonwhichtheUnitedStateshavebuilttheir identity.musichasgiventothepeopleasenseofbelongingtoanationand anabilitytoappreciatethediversityoftheirculture. American roots music tells of survival. It is made of all sorts of stories of individual destinies. And at the same time, it is a vivid testimony of a collectiveadventure:thebuildingacountry. Thewordsusedinmostsongsarestraightforward.Thethemesarecloseto people s lives and the structures are simple. American roots music is emotional.it sforceisinvigorating;it slyricismisroughandgenuine.it s dynamisminvitesustoshareacollectiveexperience. Thesearesomeofthereasonswhythistypeofmusicissoinspiringforus Europeansandsoimportantinourownmusicalhistory. LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 6
Nine female voices Les Clandestines are a group of 9 female singers. Singing songs that are mainlymeanttobesungbymen. They use several languages: English, French, the English of the Afro_ Americanslaves WordsoftheNativeAmericansarealsoused. Solosalternatewithmomentswhenseveralvoicessingtogether. Thesongsthathavebeenchosenareessentiallycomposedofmonody,or simplepolyphonicphrases.lesclandestineshaveenrichedthesongswith theirownpolyphonicwritingandarrangements. Callsandresponses.Lullabies.Poems,storiesandtexts The 9 singers evoke, through the variety of their interpretation, the hardships,thestrugglesandthejoysofthepeopleforwhomsingingwasa wayofenduringeverydaylife. Body and sound Metallic sounds of chains and horseshoes. Sounds of wood being sawed and nailed. Sounds of the blacksmith and the carpenter. Sounds of the minesandthefactories.soundsoftheslavesworkinginthefields,ofthe prisonersintheirjails,ofthetrainscrossingthecountry. LesClandestinesrecreatetheshrieks,tinkles,shots,thudsandrumblesofa country under construction. The floor under their feet is made of wood. Their jumping, hammering and dancing create noises and sounds that Whitman evokes in Leaves of Grass, when he writes that he hears Americasinging. The sounds are created by the bodies of the actors, their boots and hammers,aswellasbytheinstruments:percussionsandguitars. Instruments and amplification Two male musicians accompany the female voices: a guitar player and a percussionist/drumplayer.someofthesingersplayanoccasionalukulele orharmonica. And the instruments are also used to create sound effects, to convey impressionsofmovement,ortosuggestcertainactivitiesorlandscapes. The voices are occasionally amplified, in order to allow solos and special effects. LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 7
Singing outdoors, in the streets : a special way of performing Folksongsbelongtothepeople.Theybelongtoeachindividual,asapartof hispersonalandintimatehistory.theyarealsoastrongsocialbond.folk songs, in a sense, reach their full expressive power in the streets, where everybodycanhearthem. There,inthestreets,isanurgetotelloftheworld. That is why performing in the streets is so important to Les Clandestines and why their latest shows have all been invented for the specific conditionsofoutdoorspaces. Performing in the streets allows a straightforward connection with the audience,whichsuitsboththenatureoffolkmusicandthepersonalityof LesClandestines. Variousencounters(performances,discussions,workshops )withdifferent audienceshavetakenplaceduringrehearsals,in2014and2015.thepublic hashadanimportantroletoplayintheconstructionofthepiece. Body work In 2006, with their show Camping sauvage, Les Clandestines started exploring an approach to singing based on the energy of the body. This energymanifestsinanurgetogoforward. Most of the songs of this American repertoire are based on movement: worksongs,marchingsongs Othersongsarebasedonrepetitiveelements thatencouragepeopletomove.thewholebodyisencouragedtofeelthe musicandrespondtoitthroughdancing,shaking,walkinginprocession The rhythm and the beat of the music as well as the vigor of the voices sustainthebodythroughthehardshipsoflife.themusicurgespeopleto stayalive,aslongashopecanbefound. Myths Throughsongs,dances,textsandpoemschosenfromAmericanfolkculture, LesClandestineswishtomakesomeaspectsofthefoundingmythsofthe United States come back to the surface. These American myths (such as modernity in a wild world, freedom, individual success, the mixing of cultures,amongothers )haveinspiredthepeopleineuropeaswell,since weareculturallyverymuchinfluencedbyamerica.thisinfluence,weather it generates fascination or repulsion, still has great resonance today in France,forinstance. LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 8
PhotoAndreaGaal,Austria I had a mighty hard time, but I'm on my way It s a mighty hard climb, but I m on my way On my way, glory hallelujah I'm on my way. I m on my way to Canaan land. excerpt LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 9
First period of American roots music LesClandestinesareinterestedinaperiodthatgoesfromtheclosingofthe Frontierattheendofthe19thcenturytotheGreatDepressionandthefirst yearsofthe1930 s.themusicalformsarestillquiteroughandsimpleback then,aswellasveryemotional. Sources Inthe1920 sand1930 s,musicians,directorsofbrandnewmusicallabels and musicologists gather material concerning the roots of American folk music.peoplelikejohnlomax,a.p.carter,charlesseeger,carlsandburgor RalphPeertravelthroughthewholecountrytocollectsongs. At the end of the 1920 s and the beginning of the 1930 s, a number of important musicians like Jimmy Rodgers, Bill Monroe, Leadbelly, Woody GuthrieorLouisArmstronginitiatedareflectionontherootsoftheirown music.theystartedtoexperimentthemixingofdifferentstylesofmusic. Ofcourse,thatmixingexistedbeforethem.Buttheydevelopeditinamore conscious and determined way. Their musical approach based on combinationisastronginspirationfortheworkoflesclandestines. Yet the group is also interested in the more traditional currents of roots music.letsnamebrowniemacghee,sonnyterry,robertjohnsonandson House for blues, the Carter Family and Terence Ashley for Appalachian music,cleomabréauxandjoefalconforcajunmusic,uncledavemacon forold_timemusic. Closer in time, Tom Waits industrial blues and the distorted sounds he mingleswithtraditionalballadsareanothermajorsourceofinspirationfor thegroup. Appropriation and composition Les Clandestines and the musicians Vincent Posty and Mathieu Goust appropriate these sources and combine these influences. Their approach tendstorecomposetherootsofamericanfolksongs.theybringtogether someelementsoftraditionandelementsofmodernityinordertocreatea music of their own. Some of the instrumentations are simple and plain, close to what can be heard in traditional versions of these songs. Others arrangements sound more elaborate and relate to more recent musical genressuchasrock n roll. LesClandestineswishtobringtherootsofAmericanmusictoresonatein today scontext. Throughadialogbetweenninefemalevoicesandtwomusicians,theywork on sound, contrast and groove. The project is the result of a collective writingprocess. LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 10
Les Clandestines A musical theater group based in Strasbourg, France Les Clandestines are a group of nine professional actresses. They have been working together since 2000 on singing and movement. They are interested in an eclectic repertoire.theirapproachofbodyandspaceisrelatedtothevisualarts(useofunusual locations,structuringofspacethroughmovement,transformablecostumes...). The company has performed in alternative spaces, indoors or outdoors (art galleries, cafés,gardens,industrialwastelands...)andintraditionaltheatricalvenues.thegroup s currentresearchisorientedtowardsvocalworkandtheexplorationofoutdoorspaces, whethernaturalorurban. SHOWS 2015BootsandRoots,basedonAmericanrootsmusic.OntourinFranceandAustria. 2012Loin/lontano.Ontoursince2012inFrance,Romania,AustriaandSwitzerland. 2010Viaconcertenmouvement,basedonItalianfolksongs.Ontoursince2010in France,Serbia,Austria,Israel,ItalyandSwitzelandandRomania. 2007and2008Campingsauvage,basedonaneclecticrépertoireandondancing. 2006Intime,outdoorfantasy,Sélestat. 2004UnchienvautmieuxquedeuxChihuahuas,cabaret,Strasbourg. PhotoAndreaGaal,Austria LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 11
Biographies ANNE LEMEUNIER. Artistic director for Les Clandestines. Actress and singer. She has worked with varioustheatercompaniesinalsaceandinprovence.shealsoteachesclassesand gives workshops to teenagers and amateurs. She has been directing Les Clandestinessince2000. RÉGINE WESTENHOEFFER. Artistic director for Les Clandestines. Actress, singer, dancer and choreographer. TrainedinBrussels,shewaspartoftheMarkTompkinsCompanyinStrasbourgand Tomeo Verges s company, Mandrake, in Paris. She now co_directs the dance company Dégadézo in Strasbourg. She teaches regular dance improvisation workshops. BÉATRIZ BEAUCAIRE Actressandsinger.ShehasworkedwithdifferentcompaniesinAlsaceandwiththe Footsbarn theater. She has acted for television and records voices for ARTE, the Franco_Germanculturalchannel.Sheteachestheaterandmovement. VÉRONIQUE BORG Actress, singer and programming consultant. She has recorded for the French nationalradio,writessongsanddirectsmusicalshows.sheactsandsingswithle FilRouge,anAlsatiancompany.Sherecentlycreatedherowntheatercompany,La GrandeOurse.Shedirectswritingseminars. CAROLE BREYER. Actressandsinger.SheworkswithcompaniesinAlsace,especiallyonshowsthat combinetheater,puppetry,movementandvisualarts. NATON GOETZ Actressandsinger.Shehassunginarhythmandbluesbandandhasworkedwitha circuscompanyinalsace.sheworksforthetheaterandthetheaterfortheyouth inalsace. MATHIEU GOUST Musician(drums,perscussion).HeregularlyworkswithM.I.G,SamKarpienia,Yoanna,Naias, DeadMangas,Zappia,MalikZiad,ElectricGEM,PlaceKlezmer,touringinFranceandabroad,and recordinginvariousstudios. Hewritesmusicforfilms,websites,danceandtheatershowsandexhibits. Healsoworksasateacherandasasoundrecordistandsoundmixingspecialist. DOMINIQUE HARDY Actress,storytellerandsinger.OfVietnameseorigin,shespecializesinAsianstories andlikestomixsingingandstorytelling.shedirectsthecompanyarchipelindigo. Sheteachestheaterandsingingtochildren. LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 12
STÉPHANIE LÉPICIER. Manager Afterworkingforaninternationalstreettheatercompany,TheaterRuePietonne, she worked for a national theater (Centre Dramatique National) in Colmar. She currentlyworksfordégadézo,lesclandestinesandlefilrouge.shecreatedan agencyformanagementanddevelopment,azadproduction. VIRGINIE MEYER Actress and singer. She works with Alsatian companies and tours internationally withthestreettheatercompanyleszanimos. VINCENT POSTY Musician(guitar,electricbassanddoublebass). He is interested in innovative approaches in terms of musical creation, such as improvisation or post_jazz. He pays in groups such as Zakarya (produced by John Zorn),Ovale,ElektrikGem,Hijaz Car,Elvvis,Kemik EMMANUELLE ZANFONATO. Set designer, actress and singer. She designs sets and costumes for theater and dance pieces and for television. She is an actress in some of the shows of two Alsatiancompanies,MédianeandArchipelIndigo.Shealsoteachesmusicaltheater toyoungprofessionals. PhotoAndreaGaal,Austria LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 13
Contacts Artisticdirector AnneLemeunier0033(0)677780897 annelemeunier@orange.fr contact@lesclandestines.fr Manager StéphanieLépicier/AZADProduction_Strasbourg 0033(0)633553889 s.lepicier@azadproduction.com LES CLANDESTINES www.lesclandestines.fr licencen :2_138099 LES CLANDESTINES Strasbourg / 14