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The Hendrick Van Der Zee Company [HVDZ]
When Guy Alloucherie founded HVDZ Company in 1997, he returned to the former mining basin in the north of France : to the land of his father, once a miner.
The Company made its home in the Fabrique Théâtrale, a pit top (the “11/19 Base”) converted into a centre for the creation and staging of live shows. It is managed by a national cultural association, Culture Commune, which associates the Company with its artistic and cultural project, as “associated artists.”
Setting up quarters at the Fabrique Théâtrale gave Guy Alloucherie the opportunity to create, rehearse and develop the full scope of his research “workshops.”
He works on a regular basis with a group of artists that includes the dramaturge Martine Cendre and choreographers Marie Letellier and Howard Richard . However he considers “H.V.D.Z.” as a variable, interrelated organisation and often brings together artists from different spheres - theatre, dance, circus, music and video - for his research workshops.
Guy Alloucherie considers the fusion of different arts as a “vital element” in the development of the Company's artistic language. Creative work sites, experiments, research on social issues feed their work on the spoken and the written word, recounting experiences, childhood and memory. Since its origins, the company has produced over a dozen pieces including J'mexcuse or Les Sublimes. Increasing the number of co-directed projects, Guy Alloucherie listens and builds relationships, producing performances which try to bring together ‘militant commitment, cultural action and artistic research'. Les Sublimes in 2003, Les Veillées in 2005 or Faut qu'on parle created in Festival d'Avignon 2006, all focused on these themes. |
Guy Alloucherie, Artistic and scenic direction
He has directed the Hendrick Van Der Zee Company (H.V.D.Z) since 1997. He founded the new company after 15 years as co-director of the Ballatum Theatre company. With Eric Lacascade and the Ballatum, he co-directed original, contemporary works before revisiting classics such as Sophocles, Racine, Chekhov and Marivaux. In 1997, he directed National Dramatic Center of Caen with Eric Lacascade before reorientating his career and creating his own company.
The creation of a new company, “H.V.D.Z.”, coincided with Guy's encounter with the world of the circus. In the same year he staged a show entitled ( C'est pour toi que je fais ça ! ) with the Centre National des Arts du Cirque ( French National Circus Arts Centre ) in Châlons-en-Champagne. This experience was to be a decisive step in Guy's professional career: since that time he has continued to explore the links between various artistic disciplines such as the theatre, the circus, dance, music or video .
The works staged by Guy Alloucherie are envisioned as moments in life to be shared, as if the pulse of every member of the audience is being taken, echoing their feelings as the show evolves and comes to life. Rehearsals are like a workshop with Guy as the co-ordinator. As the various craftsmen come into contact, he acts as a general contractor. He establishes links and orchestrates, building an avenue that brings together the various pathways: a sequenced assembly of combinations that functions in or out of rhythm.
In the early 1980s, Guy Alloucherie began directing at the Ballatum Theatre. Key words in his work are improvisation, dance and collective effort. In 1997, he came into contact with the circus while working with the ninth year of graduates from the Centre National des Arts du Cirque de Châlons-en-Champagne and founded the Hendrick Van Der Zee (HVDZ) Company: ‘an ensemble with variable geometrics' with artists from the fields of drama, circus, dance and video arts.
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