Boris Charmatz - Musée de la Danse

In the intimate 2005 piece 'Régi' by choreographer Boris Charmatz, the inert bodies of the dancers were set in motion by a machine. This idea was worked out in greater depth and on a grand scale in 'Enfant', a commission for the Cour d'Honneur at the 2011 Avignon Festival. Children are given a leading role in this very beautiful and accessible dance performance about stagnation and vitality. Along with nine dancers, they show us life back to front: from death to birth, from destruction to growth, from the adult world to the kingdom of the child. Human bodies are treated like body bags. When the dancers circle around the motionless bodies of the children, pick them up and cuddle them, you start to feel uncomfortable. Their acts unambiguously suggest a balance of power; every gesture is potentially subversive. Did the French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard not describe children as "kidnappers of adults"? Until the children seize power and proclaim their own republic. 'Enfant' makes us ask ourselves how we can reconnect with our inner child, with our humanity.