Sebastien Mari

DANCE COMPANY - EDUCATIVE

BARCELONA SPAIN

the company

The Compagnie Sébastien Mari is a cultural development and integration project involving a historian, playwright, director, choreographers, designers, performers, artists, a technical team and, in the interests of social cohesion, local associations.

Its educational mission is to raise awareness in schools and show that ballet belongs to modern life, because it is a living art. That’s why our “#Ballet” artistic program (hashtag Ballet) was set up. This artistic program is aimed particularly at raising awareness in schools, but also at other audiences.

The company also offers a “4 centuries of dance” lecture for educators, teachers and students in training, as a preamble and introduction to dance. It’s also an opportunity to meet the artists after the show.

the choreographer

Sébastien Mari began his career at the Conservatoire de La Rochelle (France) with Colette Milner, Marie Paule Cantenys, Karin Wahenery and Bertrand Papillon. He won a gold medal from the Conservatoire de France and began his career in 1989 with Jeune Ballet de France 7 et 8 (France) under Robert Berthier, before joining Nederlands Dans Theatre (Netherlands) for 6 years with Jiri Kylian. He joined the Compañía Nacional de Danza (Spain) with Nacho Duato, where he stayed for 4 years, before joining the Ballet Gulbenkian (Portugal) directed by Iracity Cardoso and Paulo Ribeiro for 3 years.

From 2009 to July 2014, Sébastien was part of Ballett Mainz (Germany) under the direction of Pascal Touzeau, first as a dancer in several choreographies by Pascal Touzeau, William Forsythe, and since 2011, as coordinator, ballet master and rehearsal director for Davy Brun, Johan Inger, Jiri Kylian, Douglas Lee,Georg Reischl, Pascal Touzeau, Didy Veldman. Since 2014, Sébastien Mari has been an international ballet teacher/assistant. He has been invited to share his ballet classes at Ballet du Rhin (France), Ballet de Genève, Ballet de Bâle and Théâtre de Saint-Gall (Switzerland), in Germany at Ballett Chemnitz, Tanztheater Giessen, Ballett im Revier, Ballett Koblenz, Ballett Saarbrucken, Tanztheater Regensburg, Tanztheater Nordhausen, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Tanztheater Münster, in the Netherlands at Introdans, Henny Jurriens Stichting, Korzo Theatre and Scapino Ballet, in Spain at Associació de Professionals de la Dansa de Catalunya.

He assists and directs various works at Ballett im Revier with Bridget Breiner, David Dawson, Pontus Lidberg, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens (Montreal) with Bridget Breiner, Tarek Assam at Tanztheater Giessen, Pascal Touzeau at Theatre Nordhausen, Justin Peck in Paris, in Barcelona, Thomas Noone, Robert Bondara at the Chemnitz Theatre, and especially Jero in Verbruggen with Ballett imRevier, Moscow Ballet, Leipziger Ballett, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Ballett Theatre Basel and Staatsballett Karlsruhe.

the show

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CREDITS

Choreography by Sébastien Mari
Duration: 60 minutes without intermission
4 dancers and 1 actor-narrator

This project focuses on the educational and social aspects of culture, and by extension, dance. It enriches an educational program and broadens horizons.

This is a show for school groups aged 7 to 16, primary, secondary and ESO students, or for families. The idea is to show the history of ballet chronologically, through short scenes of 3 to 7 minutes, involving great vitality so that the spectator is “trapped” by its dynamism.

The audience is involved in the story and participates in the dramatic action. Written in the style of an amusing and exciting tale, we discover history through the arts. A master of ceremonies, in the image of Louis XIV, founder of the Royal Academy of Arts and history’s first great “influencer”, serves as a guide, revealing the subtleties and marvels of this artistic discipline.

The work of the dancer and the basics of academic language are presented in a historical context. From the Baroque style, with its pompous costumes and miriñaques, to Romanticism, with its long tutus and fantastic literature, to academic ballet with its short tutus, which led dance to virtuosity with Marius Petipa in Russia.

Meanwhile, in Denmark, master Auguste Bournonville was influenced by the Camprubí brothers’ Bolero school, and created a complicated footwork technique that was to become the standard in Europe.

Social movements such as the Industrial Revolution, the inter-war years, May ’68 and the Vietnam War stimulated the evolution of classical dance in the 20th century, and allow us to remember major neoclassical choreographers such as G. Balanchine, S. Lifar, M. Béjart, W. Forsythe and N. Duato, who combined and revitalized classical dance in an eclectic style. Duato, who combined and revitalized classical dance to create an eclectic style. He also collaborates on the project, with an exclusive presentation of his elegant choreography “Remansos”. The great influence of Spanish character and style in the world of ballet is also highlighted: Louis XIV’s “Petites folies d’Espagne” or “La Chacone”, M. Petipa’s “Don Quichotte”, V. Chabukiani’s “Laurencia” after Lope de Vega’s “Fuenteovejuna”. There’s no doubt that Spain has been a source of inspiration for ballet, painting and literature since the 19th century.

Finally, without music, there is no dance. This is why the project briefly evokes the evolution of music, the great Spanish composers, Arriaga considered by some as the Spanish Mozart, I. Albéniz, E. Granados, M. Falla and A. Iglesias, the Oscar-winning composer of several ballets.

We’ll also witness the evolution of fashion, performance and lighting, living a truly visual and imaginative experience.