Les Cantiques du corbeau program

Photographs by Alfons Alt. Portraits of the tribe

For the third opus of Cabaret de l'exil, Bartabas pays tribute to Persian women. Whether Afghan or Iranian, they too are artists in exile. Resilient and rebellious, they assert their identity and invoke ancestral memories, those of the ancient Scythian civilisation based on matriarchy. Among this nomadic people, the horse was a source of remarkable gender equality; travelling long distances on horseback and encouraging their mounts into battle was as much the prerogative of women as it was of men, as was the practice of the arts. Texts and photographs from the show Cabaret de l'Exil - Femmes persanes Photographs by Alfons Alt Preface by Bartabas in French

Brochure of 48 pages about the show « Le centaure et l’animal » (The centaur and the animal) Design and staging: Bartabas Choreography: Ko Murobushi and Bartabas Texts by Lautréamont extracted from the Songs of Maldoror Photography: Nabil Boutros

For any online purchase of the book, Bartabas will sign your copy. To do so, simply enter the first name for whom the dedication is intended in the ‘Order Notes’ box after clicking on ‘Confirm Order’. "Like two quiet people discovering each other, we shared a flood of useless words; our travels, our encounters, our adventures and the burden of our companions. From cigarette to cigarette and glass of wine to cigarette, we exchanged our doubts and the torments of creation. I talked a lot about my horses, she talked very little about her dancers. Finally, silence fell. The desire to talk gave way to the desire to do. ‘I'd like to introduce you to a horse... his name is Micha Figa." In 1990, Bartabas met the German choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch. A friendship developed between them, and he decided to introduce her to the horse Micha Figa – the ideal partner, in his opinion, to reveal the dancer's true personality. This was the beginning of an unparalleled artistic and initiatory adventure that would last more than ten years. During those nights stolen from their encounters, Pina Bausch and Micha Figa forged a bond that should have led to a much-anticipated performance. Life had other plans. What remains are moments of grace that escaped the spotlight, and Bartabas, who was their sole witness, gives us his hallucinatory account here. A downward gesture, an artist's tribute to another, takes us behind the scenes of creation and tells of the irrational and sublime that can play out between man and animal. After D'un cheval l'autre (2020) and Les cantiques du corbeau (2022), Bartabas presents his third book. Editions Gallimard Collection Blanche 112 pages ! Written in french !