ARMOUR - Arno Ferrera

Performers: Arno Ferrera, Gilles Polet and Charlie Hession

Artistic direction: Arno Ferrera, Gilles Polet

Creative Team: Bauke Lievens, Renée Corpraij, Phia Ménard, Frédéric Arsenault and Matthieu Goeury

Light designe: Anthony Merlaud

Sound creation: Raphaëlle Latini

Costumes: Kasia Mielczarek

Technical director: Pierre-Jean Pitou Faggiani

Booking: Anaïs Longiéras / diffusion.armour@gmail.com

Delegated production: Les Halles de Schaerbeek (Brussels, BE)

Creation period: 12 weeks

Status: Searching for partners

Premières: Spring 2024

PRODUCTION

Les Halles de Schaerbeek (BE)

COPRODUCTION

Le Bateau Feu, scène nationale de Dunkerque (FR)

Central, La Louvière (BE)

Dommelhof, Neerpelt (BE)
Viernulvier, Gand (BE)
La Maison de la Culture, Tournai (BE)

Le Prato, Pôle National Cirque, Lille (FR)
Perspectives, Sarrebrück (DE)
Le Sirque, Pôle National Cirque, Nexon (FR)
Culture commune - Loos-en-Gohelle (FR)

Plateforme 2 Pôles Cirque en Normandie, La Brèche / Cherbourg (FR)

RESIDENCIES

LaGeste, Gand (BE)
Le Bateau Feu, scène nationale de Dunkerque (FR)
La Brèche, Plateforme 2 Pôles Cirque en Normandie, Cherbourg (FR)

Dommelhof, Neerpelt (BE)
Le Sirque, Pôle National Cirque, Nexon (FR)
Pianofabriek, Brussels (BE)

WITH THE SUPPORT OF
LaGeste, Gand (BE) et Centre culturel suisse - CCS - Paris (FR)

“It is not true that men are unwilling to change. It is true that many men are afraid to change. It is true that masses of men have not even begun to look at the ways patriarchy keeps them from knowing them- selves, from being in touch with their feelings, from loving.

To know love, men must be able to let go the will to dominate. They must be able to choose life over death. They must be willing to change.”

bell hooks

ARMOUR is a partnering threesome that pursues questions around masculinities and
manhood, with a desire for change. Starting from the notion of (over)protection that leads to
violence, the trio of performers will confront the toxic aspects of virility to open up a space of
necessary intimacy and fragility.
Within a tri-frontal scenic setup, the performers want to question our relationship to
physical violence in a society where protection is more than ever part of everyday life. The
artistic research focuses on sports that require equipment to protect against ones opponent
(combat sports, hockey, American football,...). The imagination unfolds towards armours, exoskeletons. How can these tools, which are usually used for impact and confrontation, be sources of choreographic and acrobatic language? The will is to give them another function.
The performers plan to push this confrontation of bodies far, where percussion becomes a source of stage material, to find the breaking point. The physical commitment will then surrender to offer a relationship to the other based on care, trust and rediscovered intimacy. They want to go through phases of exhaustion, to reach physical states where softness, eroticism and cheeky self-mockery find their place.
The artistic trio on stage will be constantly changing, like fluid mythical timeless characters. By letting themselves slide into relationships of seduction and redefined masculinity, they will offer a representation of a free and generous, universal and plural love, in a joyful complicity with the audience.

RESOURCES

“Patriarchal mores teach men a form of affective stoicism, according to which they would be all the more virile for not feeling anything; but if by chance they were to feel something, and these feelings hurt them, the virile response would be to stifle them, to forget them, to hope they would go away. (...) When we participate in the patriarchal socialization of men, which leads them to deny their feelings, we condemn them to live in a state of emotional numbness, because it is im- possible to cure a feeling that is not ex- perienced. We are constructing a culture where male suffering remains voiceless, where it cannot be named or healed.”

bell hooks

ECOLOGICAL COMMITMENT

Recognizing our responsibility to the environment, we plan to reduce our environmental impact, in particular by moderating our electricity consumption.

Ideally, the entire show will not consume more than 16A or 32 in single-phase, that is to say, a possibility of connecting to one or two “classic” plugs.

For this, we will create the lighting around LEDs and low-consumption projectors. In addition, second-hand material will be preferred to new.

Concerning transportation, the material will travel direct- ly from theatre to theatre, in order to avoid unnecessary trips, respecting the idea of touring as much as possible and reducing our environmental impact. The touring team will mainly travel by train.

TECHNIQUE
AND SCENOGRAPHY

We aim to find a balance between a small footprint, proximity to the audience, a reasonable size and modularity.

We intend to work in a tri-frontal set-up and create a proximity between the stage and the room. The stage will represent a reassuring and intimate closed space. It also will refer to the three artists present on stage.

The bleachers and seating will be provided by the organizers: the theatres or festivals.