Theatre Raymond Kabbaz Presents

Traverse

A Dance + Live Music + Theatre Mash-Up

By French Performance Company Arcosm

In Los Angeles Friday, February 1, 2013

LOS ANGELES, CA – January 11, 2013 – Theatre Raymond Kabbaz presents Traverse, an inventive dance, live music and theatre mash-up from the French performance company Arcosm, on Friday, February 1, 2013 at 7:30pm.  The physical and musical production takes one man’s boring daily household routine and explodes it into a magnificent spectacle of choreography and percussion, suitable for audiences of all ages.  Traverse was created in 2011 by Thomas Guerry, a dancer and choreographer, in collaboration with Camille Rocailleux, a percussionist, pianist, and composer.  All ages are welcome.  Tickets cost $30 ($15 for students with ID) and are available at https://www.vendini.com/ticket-software.html?m=241d6077b39728479d58e072170e1c6f&t=tix.  The event is supported by FLAX (France Los Angeles Exchange).  Theatre Raymond Kabbaz at Le Lycee Francais de Los Angeles is located at 10361 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064.  To learn more about Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, please visit http://www.theatreraymondkabbaz.com.

“Traverse is a playful conversation that incorporates gesture, movement, and sound,” says Pierre Leloup, Theatre Raymond Kabbaz Director, “Ultimately, the show explores the relationship between music and dance, as the performing artists creatively employ the musicality of their bodies, through physical expression and voice, within a theatrical context.”

Traverse Synopsis–
Alone on stage, in the privacy of his plain but tidy apartment, we see a man preoccupied with his daily routine, engaging in mundane actions that he repeats day after day.  From time to time, he becomes pensive, a little dreamy – allowing himself to escape into a secret world.  Small grains of dreams gradually clog the well-oiled machine of his existence, as monotony explodes into a magnificent spectacle of choreography and music, through the creative interplay between two percussionists, one dancer, and one mime.  Due to their different artistic languages, these four protagonists must constantly explore ways to communicate, seduce and reject – to impress and win each other over.  Together, they create a score of gesture, sound, rhythm, and harmony.  While the show is suitable for audiences of all ages, it was created with a young audience in mind.

Credits–
Directors:  Thomas Guerry & Camille Rocailleux
Choregrapher:  Thomas Guerry
Original Music Composition:  Camille Rocailleux

The Arcosm Company–
Arcosm was born in 2000 and is co-directed by Thomas Guerry and Camille Rocailleux.  The Company’s main objective is to build bridges between different creative disciplines, with music, dance and singing at the root of its artistic approach.  One of the main performance elements is the human voice (rhythm, melody, timbre and tone), which brings musicality and theatricality to the characters.  Company productions include Echoa (2001), Lisa (2006), La Mécanique des Anges (2009), Traverse (2011), and Solonely (2012).

Thomas Guerry, Choreographer/Director–
Thomas Guerry graduated from the Conservatoire National de Région de Lyon and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon.  He also trained with Odile Duboc, Fabrice Ramalingom, Hélène Cathala, Betty Jones, and others.  He joined the Skanes Dance Theatre in Sweden in 1999.  In 2000, Guerry danced in Meublé Sommairement and, in 2002, in Matière Première, produced by Les Carnets Bagouets.  He also performed in Les allées et Venues (2000) and Dehors (2002), produced by La Veilleuse/Christine Jouve Co.  Guerry also danced in Le Roi des Bons, On Prendra Bien le Temps d’y Étre, La  Trêves, What You Want, and Switch.  He co-founded Arcosm in 2000 with Camille Rocailleux, and the two created the Company’s first production, Echoa, in November 2001.  He went on to also create Lisa (2006), La Mécanique des Anges (2009), Traverse (2011), and Solonely (2012) in collaboration with Rocailleux for Arcosm as well.  Interested by the relationship between music and dance, Guerry collaborated with percussion trio Bump, directing Troy in 2004, which brought together musicians with theatre and dance.  He has co-written two screenplays for full-length films with Bertrand Guerry.  Guerry has also choreographed for Odysée Ensemble, the State Diploma, and Les Carnet Bagouets.

Camille Rocailleux–
Camille Rocailleux studied piano and classical percussion at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon, where he focused on world and bodily percussions in parallel with a classical degree course.  He co-founded Arcosm in 2000 with Thomas Guerry.  With Arcosm and Guerry, he co-created Echoa, Lisa, La Mécanique des Anges, Traverse, and Solonely.  As a musician, he has performed with Orchestre National de Lyon, L’Opera de Lyon, Orchestre National de Toulouse, Odysée Ensemble, and Macocco & Lardenois Co.  Rocailleux composed music for documentary Un rêve Algerien, the score for The Clan, and music for the opera Fedegunda.  He has staged productions for Les Ballets de Nancy and Odysée Ensemble.  Rocailleux has also worked with Yannick Jaulin, Gérome Savary Co, Daphné, Benjamin Biolay, Camille, Caroline Rose, Laurent Brethomme, Karen Acioly, Mona Heftre, ARTE, Jean-Pierre Liedo, Gaël Morel, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Luxembourg.  He was recently granted a “Carte Blanche” for the Espace Malraux (Scène Nationale of Chambery), which provided him with the opportunity to develop his exploration of musical theatre, to imagine atypical mixes between varied forms of expression such as body percussion, lyrical singing, death metal growling, human beat-box, etc.

FLAX (France Los Angeles Exchange)–
For more than two centuries, the United States and France have shared similar humanistic and philosophical values.  Today, as Southern California hosts the second largest French community in the US, the mutual attraction between both communities is nurtured by 501(c)(3) FLAX, which brings together resources and programs to draw the two countries, and their people, closer.  By partnering with Southern California cultural and educational institutions, as well as by using the organization’s access to the French creative community, FLAX is dedicated to exposing Southern California to the diversity of French culture.  FLAX initiates and creates public art events to promote French cultural education and heritage, working closely with California museums, concert halls, cultural centers, and universities.

Theatre Raymond Kabbaz–
Theatre Raymond Kabbaz is a non-profit institution dedicated to the promotion of art and culture in the West Los Angeles area.  This 220-seat theatre welcomes multidisciplinary and multicultural shows.  TRK’s mission is to be an open window on French and international cultures, as well as to inspire and sustain a lifelong appreciation for the arts.

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For more information, photos or to schedule an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.