February 13 to 17, 2023 at studio K622 with a public opening on February 17 at 5 p.m.

Invited by the Comédie - CDN de Reims with the support of the Manège - Scène nationale de Reims for the apprentice members of the Comédie Class - Adrien Caron, Émilie Dumay, Julie Hannequin, Sylvain Macia, Valentin Merilhou, Rose Millot, Olga Milshtein, Sylvain Richard and Anaïs Thelier

... "

It was a wonderful meeting.

Stunning and beautiful.

Yesterday at 5pm, we were few in number, but that didn't stop the joy and beauty of youth spreading with confidence and energy. Like fireworks.

I'm proud to have succeeded in bringing words and dance and 9 young people together in space and rhythm.

In the space of 5 days, we produced 45 minutes that hold up.

Wouatch! Not so bad at all, said Andy Goldsworthy when he was very happy ...

There were 9 of them: the 2 Sylvains, Émilie, Julie, Olga, Rose, Valentin, Adrien, Anaïs; 3 of us: Vincent on drums, Grégoire and me.

12 people in all, 12 is a number I particularly like because it's a multiple of ternary and binary.

They were immediately very present, curious, involved, committed, lively and singular.

As early as the second day, I noticed that they were still very "focused" on "their" texts for their future auditions... when they asked to be able to stay and work for an extra 2 hours each evening, I understood that their concern was great, and that I had to take it absolutely into account to transform a concern into a work support.

So from Wednesday, we built a kind of score, a structure with their texts, subjecting them to the tools of listening, of presence... namely, playing with balls, the rhythm of the sequences with a mini choreography + of course, Vincent's musical interventions, always deliciously accurate.

I'd never done that before, staging texts ... that I hadn't chosen, and what texts !!!! ohohoh it was a real kick, it shook things up ... and the result was really beautiful.

They all loved it, and so did we.

Yesterday morning, we took an hour to take stock of these 5 days of experimentation with the various - fundamental - tools that I like to use because they're indestructible. The quality of their feedback was simply astonishing in its intensity and singularity.

After the presentation of our "nifty little thing" in front of a few friends and relatives + Bruno L., Claire M., Joséphine V., they took the floor to talk about their experiences, and their words were still simple and powerful.

Afterwards we drank some very good champagne - thanks Bruno and Claire - to celebrate and tell them how I have no doubt that they'll pass all their auditions and that they'll be spoilt for choice...

Thank you for your invitation, it was a wonderful experience for me, for the 3 of us.

The work you have done with them over the past 2 years is clearly bearing fruit in the formation of a group that is both individual and collective.

Bravo to you for that.

It's also important to salute the association of your two structures: that of Le Manège and that of the CDN! We were very well received and supported.

I greet you all warmly and wish you all the best for your current and future endeavors. " ...

Extract from an e-mail from Régine Chopinot to the team in charge of the Comédie de Reims Class on February 24, 2023.