Kern - Une insolite recontre de Hervé Maigret

“Outside of time, an old and gentle music guides us toward the place of encounter. Kern, a Celtic word referring to the deer and its antlers, is embodied by two dancers who seem to have stepped straight out of the pages of a fairy tale. Majestic, sensual and powerful, the two figures, half deer, half human, begin a dance that celebrates Nature, beauty and the restored harmony between humans and animals. A utopian symbiosis that immerses us in an enchanted dream, accompanied by the intimate sound of the viola da gamba. Kern, an unusual encounter that may perhaps guide you toward your totem animal…” - Hervé Maigret, choreographer

In a world where the boundary between myth and reality is so permeable, the artist’s role seems to be that of a border-crosser, a migrant through the territories of the senses, creating meaning and knowledge from their own sensations.

“For if the artist has a power, it is the power to transmit and create, through fiction, worlds in which imagination becomes a gateway to knowledge. To bring fiction to life, to make the invisible come alive, to embody legend. All these artistic metamorphoses are nothing more than the realization of what we all wish to do: to reclaim our lives and our relationship with the world by accepting, for a poetic moment, that myth and reality are one and the same, and that the invisible allows the visible to be revealed.” - Julie Cloarec-Michaud, assistant choreographer

After the performance, the company invites the audience to take part in an interactive exchange. It begins with a brief introduction to the viola da gamba, followed by learning a simple choreography that can be performed on the spot, standing in one’s own place, accompanied by the viola da gamba.

After watching the dancers, the audience is invited by choreographer Hervé Maigret to be guided by his movements and to perform a simple choreography that reconnects us with nature and invites us to discover our totem animal. A playful and interactive experience, allowing the performance to become an unusual encounter… with ourselves.

The performance is intended for adults and children aged 8+.

• Choreographer: Hervé Maigret
• Assistant choreographer: Julie Cloarec-Michaud
• Dancers: Emilia Benitez and Pedro Hurtado
• Musician: Rodrigo Becerra (viola da gamba)
• Set and costume design: Serge Crampon
• Sound direction and sound design: Mathieu Roche
• Duration: 35 min. The performance will be followed by a 15-minute discussion with the audience.

The founding of NGC 25 in Nantes in 1998 by Hervé Maigret marked the realization of an impulse that had accompanied him since childhood: the desire to imagine, invent and create worlds and stories in which human beings, as well as their relationship with the world and with others, would always remain at the center. His dance carries the raw expression of human emotion, embodying the universality of human relationships through the particularities of everyday life. This fundamental quest, brought to life through a movement language in which the body becomes a symbol of this universality, has led him to collaborate with different cultures across several continents.

Hervé MAIGRET - choreographer

Born in the Paris region in 1972, Hervé Maigret began dancing at the age of 10. He developed his practice through various techniques, including that of José Limón. At the same time, he attended classes at the Bestonso Academy and with Max Bozzoni.

At the age of 19, he left Paris to join the National Choreographic Center of Nantes, where, in 1998, together with Nathalie Licastro and Stéphane Bourgeois, he founded the French Company NGC 25. Claude Brumachon brought him onto national and international stages for eight years and entered him in the Paris International Dance Competition, where he received the Paris Opera Promotion Prize.

Hervé Maigret developed a personal, humanistic dance language inspired by everyday life and human relationships. His creations have been presented at the Val-de-Marne Dance Biennale, “Danse à Lille”, “Danse Dense” and “(Re)connaissance”, among others. His repertoire is regularly presented in more than 15 countries.

His work extends beyond creation itself: his commitment to teaching and his willingness to support other companies in several countries have made him an atypical and unconventional choreographer within the French choreographic landscape.

Emilia BENITEZ - dancer

A dancer and choreographer from Ecuador, Emilia Benitez graduated as a professional performer from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Chile. She danced for eight years as a principal dancer with the National Dance Company of Ecuador.

She has also performed with the Ecuador Chamber Ballet, the Independent Dance Front, the French-Ecuadorian collective Paralel0°, and as a guest dancer with the National Ballet of Chile.

As a performer, Emilia Benitez has represented her country at numerous festivals in South America, Asia and Europe. Throughout her career, she has trained with choreographers such as Isabel Bustos, Jaime Blanc, Laura Aris, Hervé Maigret, Rakesh Sukesh, David Zambrano, Mavin Khoo and Akram Khan. In 2019, Akram Khan invited her to observe the creation process of his work Outwitting the Devil.

She has also taught dance at San Francisco University in Quito, the Independent Dance Front and the German School in Quito.

As a choreographer, she has created works within FDI, the National Dance Company of Ecuador and the German School in Quito, as well as independently for the project Ombligo.

She met Hervé Maigret in Quito in 2011 and, a few years later, founded the French-Ecuadorian collective Paralel0° together with him, with the support of the Alliance Française in Quito and the Embassy of Ecuador in France.

In 2018, she collaborated with NGC 25 as part of an artistic expedition to the Amazon. She joined the company in November 2019 and currently lives in Nantes, where she continues both her dance practice and her work as a choreographer.

Pedro HURTADO - dancer

Pedro Hurtado studied piano at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Guayaquil. He studied dance with Nathalie Elghoul, Fredy Rivadeneira, Omar Aguirre, Jorge Parra, Luis Mueckay, Fanny Herrera, Felipe Gonzales and Yelena Maric.

He later became a member of the contemporary dance group DANZA SUR, the EPTEA flamenco dance-theatre company and the Ballet of Teatro Centro de Arte, where he developed his technique in classical, contemporary and flamenco dance.

He has received numerous awards as a pianist, performed as a soloist with the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra and given several recitals in Ecuador.

He has participated in various international festivals as a dancer with the National Dance Company of Ecuador, of which he has been a member since 2005.

In January 2012, he was invited by French choreographer Hervé Maigret to join the French Company NGC 25 in Nantes. Since then, he has developed his career as a dancer within NGC 25 and is regularly invited to perform in Ecuador.

Rodrigo BECERRA IBANEZ - musician, composer

A musician, stage artist and performer with extensive experience in symphonic and chamber music, as well as both academic and popular music.

Born in Santiago de Chile, he settled in Ecuador in 2003. Throughout his career, he has performed in renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico, under the baton of conductors including Carlos Miguel Prieto, Gustavo Dudamel, Kent Nagano, Valery Gergiev, Benjamin Zander, Dante Anzolini and Isaac Karabtchevsky.

He has also accompanied soloists such as Joshua Bell, Julian Rachlin, Gabriela Montero, Nelson Freire and Antonio Meneses.

As a soloist, he has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador, the Loja Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the National Conservatory of Ecuador, as well as with pianists Eduardo Florencia, Daniel Mancero and Webb Wiggins.

He has recorded albums with the Orchestra of the Americas, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador, Mriela Condo, Munn, Daniel Mancero, Trompo, Nuages and Alberto Caleris, among others.

Since 2016, he has served as artistic director of the InConcerto collective and foundation, as well as of the MusicaOcupa Festival, a group of musicians and cultural managers working on projects that promote classical music.

Since 2017, he has created various sound works for dance. At the beginning of 2020, he settled in Nantes, France, where he collaborates as a composer and performer on different projects developed by the French Company NGC 25.

With the support of the French Institute Cluj.

The project was carried out with the support of Cluj-Napoca City Hall and the Local Council.