Mal de mère

In September 2022, Mélanie Gobet was granted a residency by the Belluard Bollwerk Festival on board the boat Bise Noire. Revealing in many ways for the choreographer, she also noticed that, on the water, she was seasick. A disorder of adaptation to movement and conflict between the senses, this condition causes her to feel dizzy and nauseous, which accompany her and are in singular dialogue with the subject she has come to explore: her identity disorder. Born of a Filipino mother and a Swiss father, the choreographer knows nothing of her Asian cultural heritage and carries within her a gaping hole since childhood. Upon her return, she decided to create a common language with her mother, mixing line dance - which her mother practices - and contemporary dance. Intimate, artistic and political, the performance Mal de Mère aims to go beyond the framework of the family relationship, and is an attempt to repair the voids left by the modesty, traumas and tears of migratory journeys, but also to propose a new narrative.

by Mélanie Gobet

Cast