Festival Onze Bouge

This week there has been a wonderful performance arts festival in Paris, Festival Onze Bouge http://www.festivalonze.org/, with multiple offerings almost everyday and completely free of change. Paris has many arts events during the year that give everyone the opportunity to see and/or participate in activities without charge. For instance, on the first Sunday of every month all the art museums are free to the public. I love living in such an egalitarian city!

On Wednesday evening we attended a presentation of two types of dance: contemporary dance and Hip-Hop. The first by a duo, CIE ADEQUATE, was called Boeuds and about the relationship between the two. It was well done and luckily we got to the outdoor location in time to get a seat whereas those who came later were obliged to sit on tarps on the ground in front of the stage. The second group, Pro Phenomen, performed a very interesting Hip-Hop piece that highlighted the performers' individual athleticism and group's creativity. Living in Paris one gets to see lots of Hip-Hop at various public locations but this was well choreographed and polished, unlike the street performances. However, after the first couple of songs the movements seemed repetitious, the lighting a bit too dark in the evening twilight and the music blasting to the extent that I stuffed tissue into my ears to avoid permanent damage. Maybe the latter is a sign of aging but I really cannot bear music so loud that the sound waves are beating against my chest. The evening was also much cooler than I had anticipated so I was feeling a bit under dressed and by the end of their performance I was anxious to get back home.

The second event we attended was a play on Thursday night at an auditorium close to the cemetery Pére LaChaise. This was a comedic musical interpretation of Les Misérables called Les Miséreuse where four performers played 20 different characters and they took popular songs like Hey Jude and did parodies to fit the subject matter. This was quite hilarious where the main characters Jean Valjean and the policeman even ended up kissing as lovers. Although it's difficult for me to understand all of anything I hear in French, I knew the story and could get the gist of most of it. It was really quite fun.