Nothing Compares 2 U

It makes perfect sense that the choreographer Mickaël Phelippeau should develop a production with local residents, as his interest in meeting people is at the heart of his artistic practice. He enjoys playing with the portrait form (individual or collective) and discovering different worlds is what fuels his creative process. This new production, open to forty local residents aged 17 to 80, is therefore shaped by the people present over the eight weekends of studio work.

“What interests me when I start a project is not knowing where we are going, to allow time for encounters. Because it is indeed based on people that I have been designing all my projects for over 10 years. And the one we are building with the 39 residents of Caen is no exception to the rule.

It is a group portrait. In its classic definition, this is a genre scene depicting several people, a family or a group of friends, for example, following all the rules of individual portraiture. ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ follows in this tradition. In a collective movement of constant crossings of the stage, each and every one of them appears.

It so happens that in this extended family, one of the young sisters bears a striking resemblance to an Irish singer-songwriter who had a hit in the 1980s.”

Mickaël Phelippeau