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Descend

✧ PRIX MAETERLINCK ✧
✧ NOMINATED as BEST DANCE PIECE ✧
✧ NOMINATED as EMERGING TALENT : VIOLETTE WANTY ✧
✧ RENCONTRES DE LA SABAM 2024 ✧
✧ DESCENDRE : AWARD-WINNING TEXT ✧

TEASER DESCEND in GERMAN

DESCEND is a portrait of a woman standing before the sea. Unsettled by its motion, its waves, she no longer remembers why she shouldn’t jump. Through dance and narration, she explores the dual nature of water: its beauty and danger, its rhythm and chaos. Should we turn our backs on the ocean ? On the inner seas that rise and fall within us ? On the tides that shape our bodies and thoughts ?
Should we silence the sirens once and for all?

In this story, Ulysses is a woman.

 

ARTISTIC APPROACH

For several years now, my research has been grounded in a process of hybridization, questioning the boundary between literature and choreography.

If dancing is one of our earliest talents, we are also the only animal species that creates narratives, that needs to do this thing : to tell stories.
By shifting this narrative impulse into the choreographic field, I propose an immersive experience in which the body speaks without attempting to express an opinion.

“Flat writing” (as theorized by Annie Ernaux) leaves full space for facts and actions, without interpretation or direct commentary on the part of the author. It relies on simple sentence structures, everyday vocabulary, and straightforward descriptions, without adjectives or metaphors.

By translating the principles of flat writing into the choreographic realm, I choose to believe in the body—in its presence, in its ability to communicate in silence, to summon worlds and unfold them within the body-mind of the other.
And I choose to trust words, their striking power, their impact on us.

Unlike LES AUTRES ( about the ecological crisis) or, more recently, noVland (which explores our relationship to truth), I am not seeking here to “take a position” in the realm of opinion.
This performance has absolutely nothing to do with taking a stance.
This text claims nothing ; it does not try to make you a better person, nor to fix life. This text does not give my opinion.
Essentially, it seeks to describe ; it is the portrait of a state.

Eléonore Valère-Lachky

 

CREDITS

CHOREOGRAPHY, DIRECTION, TEXT Eleonore Valere-Lachky
PERFORMER Violette Wanty VOICE-OVER ACTRESS Heloise Jadoul - Marie Löcker for the German version MUSICAL CREATIONS Manu Sampaio TRANSLATOR for the GERMAN VERSION Katja Roloff SOUND Jeremy Michel LIGHTING Anton Lachky COSTUME Britt Ange TECHNICAL DIRECTOR : Sandrine Nicaise in alternance with Jeff Philips READERS Sabrine Durand / Marie Valere ADMINISTRATION PRODUCTION & TOUR MANAGER : Noémie Sonveau PRODUCTION ANTON LACHKY & ELEONORE VALERE COMPANY CO-PRODUCTION Les Brigittines - Contemporary Art Centre of Movement of the City of Brussels CO-PRODUCTION FOR THE GERMAN VERSION Staatstheater Mainz WITH THE SUPPORT OF Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles - Dance Service, The National Lottery

 

DATES

PRESS

“ While Héloïse Jadoul's voice-over recounts the story in a striking blend of strength and emotion, Violette Wanty dances it without ever falling into the illustration of the facts we are told. Here, the body carries the frenzy of the beginnings, the movement of the waves that capsize us, the hesitations, the sudden flights, the collapses, the attempts to get back up... And this parallel evolution between an intimate story and a dancing body keeps us constantly on the edge of our seats and shakes us to the core.”
★★★ LE SOIR /J.M Wynants


” Wonderfull text ”
Cindya Izzarelli / KIOSK

"When the symbiosis between sound, text, and movement is perfect, dance never seeks to merely illustrate the message. The intimate story and choreography evolve side by side, weaving together a profoundly moving tale."
★★★★ Didier Beclard/ Le Suricate


INTERVIEW
LA LIBRE BELGIQUE / Stéphanie Bocart


Radio Interview Eléonore Valère-Lachky
KIOSK/RTBF 06/03/25 from 20min

 

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

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JOB OPPORTUNITIES 〰️

The company is currently casting for three voice-over roles:

  • a Belgium-based native English-speaking actress for the voice-over role of Héloïse Jadoule in the English version of DESCEND

  • a Belgium-based Polish-speaking actress for the Polish version of NOVLAND

  • a Belgium-based native Japanese-speaking actress for the Japanese version of LES AUTRES

For more information, click here
Interested? Get in touch with Eléonore: antonlachkycompany@gmail.com


JOB DESCRIPTION :
We are looking for an actress who can, when needed, adopt a tone and energy reminiscent of working-class urban neighborhoods in France, often referred to as “les cités.”The female character in the play grew up in this kind of urban context, shaped by youth culture and defined by a strong street identity, with cultural references such as rap and techno. We are seeking an actress who can bring out a way of speaking that reflects this background, its distinctive rhythms, intonations, liveliness, and energy.