“O parlanghe” means “Ça Tchatche!” (let’s talk!). “Parlàe grous” means “to speak patois (regional dialect)”! What if “to speak patois” had become a real medication to appease body and the mind? After all, we take care of our feet, our back, our face, so why not our (native) tongue? Angélique Clairand, an actor and theatre director for Compagnie des Lumas, invites us to ‘care for’ our tongue. Her cure is aimed at awakening ancient areas of our bodies. Everyone will leave the room “gallardesis”! What if behind this zany idea was the utopian idea that a dead dialect could awaken the most vibrant land within us?
"Ben Zimet was saying about Yiddish: “I speak a language that nobody understands anymore for people who don’t exist anymore.” Originally from the Vendée region, I always used to speak my regional dialect as a child with people around me. Away from my home, from my origins, I suddenly realise that the richness of this language is slowly disappearing, while “quand i cause le patois, o me rit dans le ventre, o me pète à la goule!”* What if in the depth of our mother tongue an even deeper voice was hiding? What if to speak patois had become a real medication to appease body and the mind? What if behind this healing of the tongue/language was the utopian idea that deep down a dying dialect could awaken elsewhere and uncover the “mareas branllàées”, the most “vibrant lands” within us?" Angélique Clairand * “When I speak ‘patois’, it makes me feel good inside, it explodes in my mouth”.
(…) My approach is simple and effective: learning regional dialects allows you to reconnect with yourself, with your roots, your ancient language, the earth and the sky! In this objective, I use the fundamental teachings of tantra: the aim is to create a physiological, psychological and spiritual transformation of the person practising it. It is also said that tantra is the art of sexual ecstasy. And you may not know this, but in tantric yoga the tongue is directly linked to life energy and sexual energy, the crotch! What is the link between the tongue/language and the crotch? When you were a ‘drôle’ (a child in patois), you used to play with your tongue, it was innate. Then when you grew up, you learnt about making love, you started by kissing each other on the “jottes”** and then much later, there were French kisses, the contact with the tongue, the “snog”. This is why the tongue as a physical organ is directly linked to the person’s energy. Even in eastern medicine, a red tongue hanging out is a sign of good health. (...) By dealing with your tongue, I also deal with everything that goes round and round in your head (mental state + internal dialogue) and in your groin (the sex or crotch)! (…) ** the cheeks
Biography
Having founded Compagnie des Lumas with Eric Massé, Angélique Clairand has performed and helped directing Marivaux’s L’île aux esclaves, Concertina (inspired by Fragmentation d’un lieu commun de Jane Sautière and Le Parloir de mes songes de Michel X), Sophie Lannefranque’s Encouragement(s), and Jean Genet’s Les Bonnes - Intimité & Reconstitution. She has also directed, together with Eric Massé, Retour au fumier, Les Moinous (a trilogy inspired by the work of Raymond Federman). She has also performed in plays directed by other people, such as Stanislas Nordey, Roland Fichet, Jean-Claude Berrutti, Frédéric Fisbach, Robert Cantarella, Richard Brunel, Annie Lucas, Karelle Prugneau, etc. More recently, she has created Traces de guerre, a show inspired by the letters and war diaries of her ancestors, directed Yannick Jaulin’s La bête à deux dos ou le coaching amoureux, which is more like a healing of the heart.
Cast and crew & thanks
Performed and written by Angélique Clairand. Writing contributor: Cécile Bournay. Admin: Laurence Rotger & Annick Boisset. Production: Compagnie des Lumas. Co-production & Residence: Les Subsistances / Lyon / France, Le Nombril du Monde / Pougne-Hérisson.
Dates
Thursday 3, Friday 4, Saturday 5, Sunday 6 april 08
First production / Theatre