Premiered at the "Automne Chereographique d’Angers," MAY B is a co-production of the Ballet-Théâtre de l’Arche and the "Maison de la Culture de Créteil." This show is a striking confirmation of the possibilities and talent of Maguy Marin.
MAY B is inspired by the theatrical work of Samuel Beckett. On stage, ten dancers, their faces and bodies covered in clay, seem to emerge from some hospice where, old and hopeless, they await the slow arrival of death. Before our eyes, they tear themselves apart, mime some imaginary copulation, escape from everyday reality and then plunge back into it, fight for a piece of cake, and lose themselves in memories.
Occasionally, a flash evokes the world of the marginalized, the vagabonds, the miserable elderly that Beckett so vividly described in "Waiting for Godot" or "Endgame." Maguy Marin displays the repulsive and the unbearable with incisive and fierce talent. Each part of the work is intentionally distressing and atrocious. She evokes Beckett, but also Goya, and the tragedies of loneliness and the anguish of the elderly are portrayed without indulgence, with raw realism.
What makes Maguy Marin's work exceptional, in my view, is that all this is conveyed solely through dance; she outlines, as a genuine choreographer, the psychology of Beckett's characters through a theatrical yet profoundly "dancing" gesturality. The show lasts an hour and a half, but rarely can one be so captivated, engaged, and moved. Maguy Marin knows how to intensify a dramatic situation and bring it to a point of no return; she thus provokes the audience, making them feel uneasy, subdued, but deeply entranced.
She is undoubtedly one of the greatest choreographers of our time. With "May B," Marin places herself on the same level as Mary Wigman, Martha Graham, or Pina Bausch. Moreover, she possesses a refreshing humor that allows her to negate the impression of mechanical or repulsive elements her subjects might evoke. The company is fantastic, each member defined by what they dance; they all hold their characters with intensity and fervor but also possess that corrosive humor that allows them to make even the worst situations bearable.
André-Philippe Hersin
In les Saison de la danse
