Sonnailles

The pro­ject begins with a simple artis­tic and musi­cal ges­ture : to create a gen­der-balan­ced brass band where tra­di­tio­nal and elec­tro­nic music come toge­ther in a unique ensemble (wind ins­tru­ments, per­cus­sion and tra­di­tio­nal ins­tru­ments). A reper­toire is taking shape, roo­ted in the tra­di­tion of fes­tive, trance, popu­lar and non-mains­tream music, which share func­tions that are at once com­mu­nal and joy­ful, social and col­lec­tive.

The brass band func­tions as a nucleus around which dan­cers, ban­ner-bea­rers and mobile kit­chen units gather. The ensemble is brought to life through hybrid cos­tumes that blend ritual, car­ni­val prac­tices, tra­di­tio­nal adorn­ments and contem­po­ra­ry street cultures (pro­tests, urban sub­cul­tures). Added to this tableau is a cho­reo­gra­phic style blen­ding move­ment and ban­ner mani­pu­la­tion, as well as a sta­ging of public space through the use of smoke effects and public dis­plays.

From this hybrid pro­ces­sion emerges the pos­si­bi­li­ty of a power­ful emer­gence in the public space, offe­ring new poe­tic and poli­ti­cal nar­ra­tives. Thus, SONNAILLES helps to remind us that the street belongs to eve­ryone and that within it lies an eman­ci­pa­to­ry, civic and mul­ti­cul­tu­ral power.

Whil­st SONNAILLES could be pre­sen­ted as a stan­da­lone pro­ject, its most ful­ly rea­li­sed form would take shape through com­mu­ni­ty-based ini­tia­tives, where the pro­ces­sion would become a space and time for co-crea­tion with local resi­dents. In this way, each expe­rience would be enri­ched by local cultures, skills and sto­ries, hel­ping to per­pe­tuate the

essen­tial and joy­ful tra­di­tion of col­lec­tive bodies mani­fes­ting them­selves in public spaces.

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SONNAILLES was born out of a sha­red love for the inter­t­wi­ning of the arts and social ques­tions. In these times of mul­tiple crises, the very nature of artis­tic prac­tice is being chal­len­ged by the harsh rea­li­ties of life, its com­plex issues and its pres­sing concerns.

How, then, can we conti­nue to make art in a way that is roo­ted in its context, dri­ven by a joy free from nai­ve­ty and a poe­try unique to the things of life ? If there is to be a gene­sis, it sur­ely lies in our belief in the power of the artis­tic act and the col­lec­tive spi­rit that stems from it—a joy­ful, popu­lar spi­rit in the finest sense of the word.

And then, on the one hand, there was a trip to New Orleans for Lucas Elzière, with its music, mar­ching bands, second lines, jazz clubs and the under­ground trap scene of the Treme clubs. On the other, expe­riences of fes­ti­vals and parades in public spaces for Johan­na Rocard (Braves, in the Hau­te­pierre hou­sing estate, the Under­ground Parade in Bon­ne­main, The Art of Joy for 8 March 2024). The street, then, as a play­ground and a space for col­lec­tive expe­ri­men­ta­tion ; the brass band as an impe­tus for some­thing that trans­cends it ; a vibrant pro­ces­sion where ver­na­cu­lar tra­di­tions and urba­ni­ty meet to give form and sound to new popu­lar iden­ti­ties.

JOHANNA ROCARD – ARTIST, AUTHOR AND CHOREOGRAPHER

After trai­ning in dance and obtai­ning a degree in social sciences, Johan­na Rocard com­ple­ted her stu­dies with a Master’s degree in visual arts at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Rennes II. Along­side her aca­de­mic stu­dies, she wor­ked in various sec­tors, some more lucra­tive than others, ran­ging from car­pet sales­wo­man to moto­cross pre­sen­ter and cook.

A mem­ber and co-foun­der of La Col­lec­tive, she is par­ti­cu­lar­ly inter­es­ted in rituals and the concept of group spi­rit. These diverse expe­riences and inter­dis­ci­pli­na­ry know­ledge now enable the artist, author and cho­reo­gra­pher to deve­lop a mul­ti­fa­ce­ted prac­tice struc­tu­red around non-hie­rar­chi­cal action research into the concept of the col­lec­tive, and more spe­ci­fi­cal­ly into the ges­tures and rituals of war­ding off mis­for­tune that bind human groups toge­ther in times of cri­sis.

In addi­tion to her per­so­nal prac­tice, Johan­na Rocard cur­rent­ly works with : the 3615 Dako­ta col­lec­tive, the Trois points de Sus­pen­sions com­pa­ny (art in public spaces), the Flo­rianne Fachi­ni com­pa­ny (culi­na­ry theatre), the Uni­code com­pa­ny (caba­ret), and the Joli Col­lec­tif / Enora Boelle (children’s theatre)

https://www.instagram.com/johanna_rocard/

LUCAS ELZIÈRE – MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER

A mul­ti-ins­tru­men­ta­list who has taken on the roles of drum­mer, trum­pe­ter and sin­ger in various pro­jects, Lucas Elzière

enjoys explo­ring a wide range of musi­cal styles. Whil­st com­ple­ting a Master’s degree in socio­lo­gy, he trai­ned at the Rennes Jazz Conser­va­toire, where he took courses in impro­vi­sa­tion and arran­ge­ment. A curious musi­cian, he is also inter­es­ted in elec­tro­nic music, with the under­lying aim of constant­ly adding new sonic ele­ments to his com­po­si­tions.

Lucas Elzière par­ti­ci­pates in and deve­lops nume­rous pro­jects (Beigale/Oozband/Mohican/Nombril de Venus/etc.), ran­ging from jazz to contem­po­ra­ry music, via tech­no and tra­di­tio­nal music. But it is brass band pro­jects that he is par­ti­cu­lar­ly fond of. These have led him to col­la­bo­rate with artists in France and abroad (Gang­bé Brass Band, Sita­la, TBC), nota­bly in West Afri­ca and New Orleans. These encoun­ters led him to focus more clo­se­ly on the social, cultu­ral and poli­ti­cal dimen­sions of various musi­cal move­ments, par­ti­cu­lar­ly the impor­tance of issues sur­roun­ding the reap­pro­pria­tion of public space ;

concerns that would sub­se­quent­ly colour his entire body of work.