© Pietro Bertora
DOWN (single version)
DOWN is a choreographic creation for a drum set and a dancing body. A performative and explosive concert, an attempt to respond to the collective down. A moment of descent after ecstasy, a wave of depression, the sensation of the body letting go, the spirit becoming detached: that’s the down. Mélissa Guex explores fatigue, physical exhaustion and how movement can activate concentration and mental well-being. She experiments with the rhythm of the descent, the music of the ascent, the body freezing or following a drum of emotions, giving birth to a duet with bright colours and festive costumes, a Saba dance – a ritual healing dance – to be consumed like a drug to get back up. Inspired by ecstatic ritual dances and club culture and conceived as a modular format, “DOWN” evolves, transforms and takes root in the territories it explores, feeding on past journeys and nourishing future ones. In Santarcangelo, Mélissa will create a site-specific version for Piazza Ganganelli; the performance will make its official debut in March 2024 at the Théâtre Sévelin 36 in Lausanne.
Credits
By and with Mélissa Guex
Drum Clément Grin
Administration and production Milena Pellegrini
Production Cie Sumo
With the support of Théâtre Sévelin 36, Go Go Go – Le Grütli, Supernova Rimini, Santarcangelo Festival, Venere in Teatro, SUBS Lyon
Melissa Guex
Mélissa Guex, born in 1993, is a dancer and choreographer from Lausanne. She studied at the École Lassaad in Brussels and La Manufacture in Lausanne. Mélissa then became an associate artist of Théâtre Sévelin 36 and founded her company. Currently, she presents her solo work as a choreographer and performer in different theatres in Switzerland. Mélissa juggles between the world of nightlife and the theatre, exploring transformation through costumes and using the urban space as a playground. Clément Grin, born in 1992, is a drummer and composer. He studied at the Haute École de Jazz in Lausanne, training with Cyril Regamey and Emil Spanyi. He is a member of several ensembles – Meimuna, Hold, Monument, Duo Sonore, Gr’Ørch, Bart Plugers Blossom and Blasphemy – regularly plays for projects that take him as far as China and performs in nume