Psaumes #03

ABOUT THE “PSAUMES” PROJECT AND THE “CONTEMPORARY POETICS OF RELATIONSHIPS”

A psalm (psaume) is a poetic text composed of several verses belonging to four main literary genres. The word comes from the ancient Greek psalmos, which refers to a tune played on the psaltery.

It was used in the Septuagint translation to translate the Hebrew word mizmôr, which refers to a religious song accompanied by music that appears 57 times in the Book of Psalms. Psalms can take on different characteristics: more or less laudatory, intimate, combative, repentant, etc.

With “Psaumes,” I would like to explore and “grasp” the multiple meanings of relationships as they play out in society today.

What is sacred? What is sacred today? 
Why is it sacred? How does the meaning of the sacred change based on personal (ontological) or collective trajectories? What is my approach to the sacred? What is sacred to me? What do I desacralize? What are my sacrileges?

These are all questions that drive me.

At this stage in my personal and professional journey, I feel the desire to write contemporary psalms. It will not be sung poetry, but a poetic dance flow about relationships (what “re”binds us).

James Carlès – Artistic Director

ABOUT THE PIECE

The third installment was created in collaboration with Ali Moini, an Iranian artist who needs no introduction. This third perspective on the question of the sacred and the religious brings the “Psaumes” cycle to a close and adds a different flavor to the two previous creations.

Work began in September 2018 and was completed in January 2019 as part of the CNDC Solo Festival in Angers.

“I have been interested in the idea of physical and metaphorical force and pressure for some time.

I have also studied and researched how the body uses its strength in sacred practices, including individual practices, attitudes, and social rituals.

By focusing on how the body uses its strength and the pressure it exerts against itself and its environment, we will attempt to create a bodily composition that connects the contemporaneity of today’s body with the authenticity of ancient rituals, confronting the pressure of the physical and the metal that are involved in sacred practices.” – Ali Moini

Source: James Carlès

Learn more: www.jamescarles.com