PECOUR ACADEMY – BAROQUE DANCE IN PARIS – 2nd EDITION IN 2024

From Saturday August 17th of 2024 at 6 pm till Friday August 23rd of 2024 at 4 pm, in Micadanses (Paris 4th arrondissement)

This Baroque dance academy offers in-depth work on the technical sources, the repertoires and the challenges of putting them into practice. It is aimed at an international audience by offering bilingual and intermediate-advanced to professional education. The schedule consists of morning technical classes and afternoon workshops with Irene Feste, Hubert Hazebroucq and Guillaume Jablonka.

Thème : Games and Variations

Since 2006, Divertimenty has been offering live performances and actions around the dance culture of the 18th century. The creations are fortified by current theoretical and practical research to anchor the contemporary aspect of the new baroque generation that the company embodies.

Educational organization

    For the morning technical class, each teacher offers different choreographies. Participants choose only one course and take it all week. The afternoon workshops are organized in two different slots (14:15-15:30 then 15:45-17:00), each participant chooses a workshop for the first slot and another workshop for the second slot.

Click on the picture of each professor to read his/her biography

Hubert HAZEBROUCQ is a professional dancer specialised in Early Dance (Renaissance and Baroque) since 1998, and the choreographer of the Company Les Corps Eloquents, founded in 2008. He aims to promote the early repertoires and to link the creation with innovative research. He is regularly invited to international festivals  (Boston, Utrecht...) and prestigious heritage places (Versailles, Chambord...). He collaborates with several renowned musicians, including William Christie (Les Arts Florissants), Denis Raisin-Dadre (Doulce Mémoire), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment... As an independent searcher, holding a Master's degree with a dissertation on  ballroom dancing about 1660, he publishes many academic articles. He teaches Early Dance among others at the Conservatoire Régional de Paris since 2021.

Repertoire worked with Hubert Hazebroucq

Advanced-Professional Level

The « Sarabande de Mr Beauchamp »  is one of the very few surviving pieces composed by the well-known  dancing-master. The composition is refined and contrasted, with unusual steps at times. The relationship to the music is particularly subtle and varied, demonstrating the « fine and learned cadence » typical of this choreographer. It allows modulations of dynamics and movement quality.  We will emphasizing this musicality, but also the importance of spatiality, and explore the interpretative possibilities that such an « abstract » piece opens up. 

Irène Feste - Cie Danses au (Pas)sé : Dancer, choreographer and teacher specialized in early dance from the XVIth to the XIXth centuries. Her research focuses on the evolution of dance at the beginning of the XIXth century (Jean-Henri Gourdoux-Daux, Michel Saint-Léon) and in particular on the quadrilles of Jean-Etienne Despréaux (research supported by the CN D, the INHA and the BnF) and on his system of chorographical notation, la Terpsichorographie.

Repertoire worked with Irène Feste

  • Chacone of Galathee performd’ by Mr. La Garde and Mrs Santlow by A. L’Abbé, tune by JB Lully (LM/1860) : Consult the choreography
Intermediate-Advanced Level

The Pastorale héroïque Acis et Galatée was Jean-Batispte Lully’s last completed work, in 1686. A resounding success, it was revived many times and exported abroad.
In England, Anthony L’Abbé choreographed the magnificent chaconne from the second act and published it in his collection A New Collection of dances, in 1725 (FL/1725.1/04).
The workshop will be an opportunity to reveal this virtuoso chaconne, in duet, in all its technical and artistic dimensions.

Guillaume Jablonka: His career as a dancer took him to the Ballet du Nord (Roubaix) where he met Jean Guizerix and Wilfride Piollet and then integrated their Barres Flexibles into his training and teaching. He discovered Baroque dance in the Cie l'Éventail by Marie-Geneviève Massé and later founded the Cie Divertimenty, for which he created Le Petit Chaperon rouge as a pantomime ballet (Pontoise Baroque Festival) and Les Coulisses du Ballet vénitien (Opéra Comique). In parallel, his research concerns the restitution of notated dances from the eighteenth century, notably the Ferrère manuscript. He teaches at the sports department of Sorbonne University and since its creation has contributed to the practical application of sources in the shows of the Théâtre Molière Sorbonne.

Repertoire worked with Guillaume Jablonka

  • Entrée de deux [femmes] dancée par Mlle Provost et Mlle Guiot à l’opera d’yssée by GL Pécour, tune by AC Destouches (LM/2820) : Consult the choreography
Intermediate-Advanced Level

Two female hunters of the suite of Diana and Cupid interpret this gavotte which includes many springing steps. It was performed by two eminent soloists in 1708 on the stage of the Paris Opera. The work of the class will focus on the lightness of the supporting feet and the grace of the high arms on stage without forgetting the endurance necessary for a long dance. A first warm-up time will be based on the Flexible Barres Technique: a somatic work around the bodily sensations of the body moving in space will gradually lead to the management of gravity balance on a single foot in «élevé». Mental images will be a very strong support to this result.

Afternoon workshops

Time slot 14:15-15:30 : La Gavotte de Vestris (I. Feste) OR Love and Olympic Games (H. Hazebroucq + G. Jablonka)
The Gavotte de Vestris and its variations
In 1785, Maximilien Gardel choreographed a solo for Auguste Vestris that was to become a milestone in the dance world, and which was to take his name: the Gavotte de Vestris, taken from the opera Panurge dans l’île des lanternes, by A. E. M. Grétry.
We will look at different versions of this gavotte: for two, in trio, for eight, based on different dancing masters (Jean-Etienne Despréaux, TB Dance book 1826, Michel Saint-Léon, Charles Blasis, Théleur, etc.).

Love and Olympic Games
The expressiveness and theatricality of the dance music of Jean-Philippe Rameau will be the thread of this workshop. We will explore two handwritten musical scores annotated with scenic indications: the games of zephirs and nymphs with Hubert Hazebroucq, then the various prizes and competitions of isthmic games with Guillaume Jablonka.

Time Slot 15:45-17:00 : Feuillet Notation, reading and writing (G. Jablonka + I. Feste) OR Caprice in the ballroom minuet in the Early 18th c. (H. Hazebroucq)

Feuillet Notation, reading and writing
Intended for a beginner or intermediate audience in the reading of Beauchamp-Feuillet notation, this workshop will allow to navigate through the treatise Choreography of R.A. Feuillet published in 1700: reviewing the basic rules, deciphering some tables of steps, exploring the movement of the arms on page 102, deciphering new pages of notated dances, writing some baroque dance exercises…

The Caprice in the ballroom minuet in the early Eighteenth Century
This workshop will focus on variations, ornated steps or combinations of steps that can replace the basic steps according to precise rules when performing the usual figures of the ballroom minuet, especially in the main figure (S, Z or 2). Some possible variations of space will also be presented in the ordinary figures of this dance. Our major source for this will be the treatise Rechtschaffener Tantzmeister by G. Taubert (1717).

Dates et schedule

  • Sa Aug.17th 2024 6 pm : welcoming and collective dancing time
  • Sun Aug 18th till Thu 22nd : 10 am-6 pm technical class, workshops, talks
  • Fri Aug 23rd : 10 am-4 pm classes then public presentation gathering all participants
  • Optional,convivial moments : walk through the Paris of dancing masters, dinner on the banks of the Seine…
Emploi du temps général Académie Pécour 2023

Training locations and access

  • Micadanses, 15, 16 et 20 rue Geoffroy l’Asnier, 75004 Paris : we will train in three different studios MayB, Noces et Biped.
  • Public transport access : Metro 7 Pont Marie or Metro 1 St Paul, easily accessible also over Châtelet-Les Hallesstation then a 10 minutes walk.

These studios are easily accessible by Châtelet-Les Halles, the main metro and RER exchange station, for those who would choose accommodation far from Paris and therefore cheaper.

If you have troubles finding an accomodation (prices or availability), please contact us and we will try to find a solution.

The area has supermarkets and fast food options for easy and convenient lunches. It is possible to eat outdoors to enjoy the neighborhood or indoors in case of rain.

Cost of Training

  • Registration fee : 50 € obligatory to validate the registration and non-refundable
  • Educational fee : 280 € for registration before May 1st 2024, otherwise 320 € for registration after this date

Accommodation and meals are the responsibility of the participants. For advice, do not hesitate to contact us.

To register

Complete the form by clicking on the button below. You will receive a response as soon as possible. Professors reserve the right to make you another proposal. If your request is accepted, the terms of payment will be specified. For candidates whom teachers do not know, please attach a CV and a link to a video where you are seen dancing.

Why this academy ?

    Baroque dance is reaching an increasingly large international audience and is gaining ground in more and more different countries. However, once at a certain level, it is often difficult for amateur and professional dancers to continue to progress due to the lack of advanced students to fill local classes. This academy proposes to gather for a week these dancers in demand of a high level work provided by quality teachers.

Why referring to Pecour ?

    Guillaume Louis Pécour was a key figure in the dance world around 1700. He succeeded Pierre Beauchamp as ballet master to the court and Opera. Both his ball dances and his ballet entrées are transcribed by Feuillet into the Chorégraphie notation system and Pierre Rameau receives from him a public approval for the content of the publication Le Maître à Danser. Pécour is the keystone of the dance building in the Baroque era. It then seems relevant as a reference for a baroque dance academy in Paris.
Since 2006, Divertimenty has been offering live performances and actions around the dance culture of the 18th century. The creations are fortified by current theoretical and practical research to anchor the contemporary aspect of the new baroque generation that the company embodies.

Why these trainers ?

    The trainers are all professionals of the Baroque world in activity and with a recognized career. They are particularly distinguished by their involvement in practical research activities around baroque dance.

Which prerequisites ?

    This academy is aimed at participants with a technical level in baroque dance from intermediate/advanced to advanced/professional.

What outfit to learn ?

    The teaching team expressly requests a pair of adapted dance shoes with wide heel. (for example Cabaret model of the brand Sansha at 28 to 35 € per pair). The rest of the outfit should be soft and comfortable but not too loose at the legs so that teachers can correct students.

What is baroque dance  ?

    What is now called «baroque dance» is the result of some fifty years of research into the restitution and putting on shows of the academic dance of French origin practiced in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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About the compagnie

Since 2006, Divertimenty has been offering live performances and actions around the dance culture of the 18th century. The creations are fortified by current theoretical and practical research to anchor the contemporary aspect of the new baroque generation that the company embodies.

Contact

contact at divertimenty.org

Choreographer
Guillaume Jablonka
+33 06.62.52.50.28

Administrative contact
Vanessa Colas
+33 06.42.87.00.62

 

Mentions légales

Directeur de la publication : Martine Ravaine

Réalisation : Rachel COUDRAY pour POLIPHILIA – 2014

Hébergement : OVH

Crédits photographiques : Mélanie Foucault, Christophe Perricon, Valérian, Poliphilia, Alice Bloch (Opéra comique)

SIRET : 507 739 662 00025

APE : 9001 Z

Licence d’entrepreneur du spectacle PLATESV-R-2021-013023

Organisme de formation professionnelle 11 92 17047 92

Charte de confidentialité

 

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