Fear has always been present, everywhere, at all times, in every individual; it knows no rest. This fundamental emotion of our humanity seems to influence many of our behaviors.

In order to question its mechanisms, Lucas Bergandi and Clément Dazin will play with the fears of the audience, with their own fears as a tightrope walker and juggler, but also with those they experience in their daily lives.

Together, they will try to understand this emotion that can save our lives or push us straight into a wall!

The Origin of the Project: A Story of Encounter

Clément Dazin : In 2009, I met Lucas Bergandi, a virtuoso tightrope walker, and we studied together for three years at CNAC (National Circus School). He is fascinating, putting his life in danger on the tightrope at every moment. He seems impervious to fear. However, when I invited him to perform at the Théâtre du Rond-Point in September 2021, he climbed onto the tightrope, looked at me, and said, “I’m afraid, Clément, it’s been a long time since I felt this way, but I’m afraid…”

My heart beats fast in the evening when he performs; I am afraid in turn of an accident that could be fatal. I am not the only one; the entire audience stops breathing when Lucas steps onto the tightrope. Eventually, everything goes well, the audience resumes breathing, and applauds. Much later in the evening, Lucas suggests that I direct him in a solo about fear.

A Project from the Intimate to the Universal

Lucas Bergandi : When the body faces danger, the mind takes refuge behind an emotion called fear. It is an emotion that, with its various forms, both protects and compromises us. I am not afraid of dangerous jumps, falls, or injuries. The fear lies in the projection I make. The anticipation of all those possibilities that will never happen. So, I might as well experience it fully, until the end.

It was after a show to which Clément Dazin invited me to participate in Paris that I decided to take the step of going towards a personal creation. During the three years we spent with the 23rd promotion of CNAC, Clément Dazin always showed sincerity towards my artistic proposals and honesty towards me as a person. These two traits give me confidence in the human and sensitive aspect that a show creation confronts us with.

With A.N.G.S.T., I wanted to test a spectacular form around the tightrope, on this theme that is both personal and universal, which is fear. My backflip is repeated several dozen times over a given time. This path is certainly perilous but ideal for allowing the spectators to feel the moment through repetition.

A PROJECT LED BY LUCAS BERGANDI AND CLÉMENT DAZIN

Conception, Text, and Performance by Lucas Bergandi and Clément Dazin Directed by Clément Dazin Outside Eye Cédric Orain and Mathilde Auneveux General Stage Management and Lighting Design Tony Guérin Sound Design and Stage Management by Mathieu Ferrasson Administration, Production, and Broadcasting by La Magnanerie – Victor Leclère, Anne Herrmann, Sarah Bigot, Margot Moroux and Hortense Huyghes-Despointes.

Production: The Hand of Man
Co-production: Platform 2 Pôles Cirque en Normandie – La Brèche, Cherbourg, Le Palc – Pôle National Cirque, Châlons-en-Champagne
Residency Hosts: Transversales, Cirque Conventioned Stage of Verdun, CirQ’ônflex with Théâtre Mansart, Dijon, MAC – Cultural Relay of Bischwiller
With the support of Dieppe Scène nationale – DSN
With the assistance of companionship from the Ministry of Culture – DGCA

Production Contact: La Magnanerie – www.magnanerie-spectacle.com
margot@magnanerie-spectacle.com / +33 (0) 1 43 36 37 12