For the past three years, Alias has been carrying out a series of residencies and outreach activities, first at the Cayla middle school, from 2014 to 2015, then at Gradelle, from 2015 to 2016. This unique experience is now being carried further with an important project in 2016-2017 at the de Saussure Secondary School.

Description & objectives
The prime objective of this residency is to arouse the curiosity of pupils and teachers about the(ir) body.  Dance and the body in motion are two main axes of this residence. The question « what role does my body play in my life? » will be the guiding thread throughout the year.

The residency will comprise twelve projects of different nature, structure and scale: workshops in movement and various dance techniques, conferences, rehearsals, films, improvisation, drawing and photography workshops, etc. The projects will be elaborated in coordination with the teachers concerned.

Beneficiaries
The company will carry out rehearsals and run-throughs for its various tours in the school’s auditorium.  Rehearsals will be open to students and educators alike, making the profession and world of contemporary dance visible and accessible to all one thousand pupils, one hundred and twenty five teachers and thirty administrative employees.

This project lasted until 2011-2012

Description & objectives
Contemporary dance project in schools related to L’Ange du foyer (Home angel), choreography for young and old created in 2008 by Alias.

The objective was to conduct children through the choreographic universe of
Home angel, a family choreography created in 2008 at the Meyrin Forum Theatre. The children were encouraged to create their own « school angel » by reacting to the fantasy of Guilherme Botelho, the company’s choreographer, whilst utilizing their own universe and body language developed in the course of workshops.  During the fifth and last week of workshops, the four groups and the company got together in the company’s studio to share their work and debate about the piece with the choreographer and the dancers present in Geneva.

Partners
Department of Education (DIP) « Les arts et l’enfant » (Children and the Arts), Meyrin Forum Theatre

Description & objectives
In these workshops, Fabio Bergamaschi guides the children through creative and playful experiences where imagination and feeling are the pillars of movement.  Technique and esthetics are not part of this work. By means of a precise and constructive improvisation procedure, children are put at the center of the creative process.

Keynotes
• Availability and responsiveness of the body: the body in a state of absorption: listening, being present, concentration…
• Body awareness: weight, letting go, momentum, contraction/relaxation, muscle tone, relation to the ground, imprints…
• Actions and feeling, different states of the body: slicing, cutting, rolling petting, drawing, enveloping, lying down, floating…
• Space and occupation of space: crossing the stage, directions, orientations, creating spaces, space as malleable material and/or sound, vision…
• Musicality of the body: different dynamics and qualities of movement, different tempi,  initiation and conclusion of movement, syntax of a gesture, pre-movement, resonance
• Writing a movement: creation of movements by children, composition and memorization of a choreographic phrase based on those movements, appropriation of a choreographic phrase and improvisation with the newly acquired language…
• Reading the body

Stage performance at end of school year
The aim of a public performance is not to point out, demonstrate or prove anything but to share with the people close to us the adventure that we lived through by immersing them in it, and to witness the fantasies that were prompted… to share an experience in order to engender meaning, to live the artistic process fully and become aware of all the trades involved in the production of a show. A stage performance is an experience of respect, individual and collective responsibility, multiple emotions, sensorial perception and trust in oneself and others.

Project carried out from 2008 to 2009, and from 2009 to 2010. During the second season, it comprised four parts:

Part 1   –   Dance at school
C.f. detailed description.

Part 2   –   Workshops for seniors Description & objectives
Weekly creativity and movement workshops for people over sixty five. Using improvisation games, facilitator Caroline de Cornière proposes an exploration of movement (movement of joints, quality of movement, listening, space…). Individual and collective work around dance to develop our understanding of it as a language of the body and to enrich our musicality and movement. To enhance responsibility and initiative for one’s own health, self esteem and respect for others through the pleasure of dancing and creating.

Beneficiaries
Circa fifteen retirees living in the commune of Meyrin

Dates & schedules
October to June, weekly ninety minute workshops

Partners
Department of Culture and Assistance to Seniors of the commune of Meyrin, Meyrin Forum Theatre

Part 3   –   Exhibit: « La force du grand âge » (The strength of old age)
Description & objectives
Exhibit & Work in progress in relation to the Meyrin Forum Theatre theme “Avec le temps” (« With time »).  The objective was to highlight the expression of an aging body through the medium of contemporary dance, short films and photography.

Beneficiaries
General public

Partners
Department of Culture and Assistance to Seniors of the commune of Meyrin, Meyrin Forum Theatre

Part 4   –   Show Description &
Objectives
Two part project around the theme of the body at every age, putting children face to face with seniors.  Intergenerational work mixing abstract scenes with narrative ones to the music of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

The objective was to give participants a chance to present their work on stage, to become familiarized with the different trades of stage production, and to discover the stakes of a performance, as well as to give two generations the opportunity to get to know each other around a shared artistic experience.

Beneficiaries
Participants in « Dance at school » and « Dance for Seniors » workshops as well as the general public

Partners
Department of Culture and Assistance to Seniors of the commune of Meyrin, Meyrin Forum Theatre