Johann Le Guillerm trained on the tightrope and circus arts at the Centre National des Arts du Cirque (CNAC). He graduated from the school in 1989 with honours. He subsequently toured with Archaos, then took part in the creation of La Volière Dromesko, co-founded the O circus with CNAC alumni and created his own circus, Cirque Ici in 1994. A year later, Où ça (Where's That), his first solo, came into being. In 1996, he was awarded the National
Grand Prix of the Circus. In 1999, he started out on an 18-month journey that took him to every continent where he brought his uncertainties face to face with the imbalances of marginalized populations. When he returned in 2001, he laid the first bases of ATTRACTION, a step in his quest to understand the world. A vast project that includes, as of this date: Secret, the show, La Motte (The Lump), circus phenomenon, Monstration, the installation. These artistic objects form points of reference in a universe of an artist who wants to have a 360° view of the world around him. Johann Le Guillerm presented Secret at the Festival d'Avignon in 2004.
Out of sync, as though outside of time, Johann Le Guillerm is a troubling character. In the ring, he installs his feats as well as exposes his vulnerability, handling the symbolic and playing with the complexities of thought and the triviality of bodies. Secret, the show in the ATTRACTION project explores the artist's relationship with matter. Number after number, Johann Le Guillerm will share everything he knows about his reactions and his metamorphoses with the spectator. Between extreme concentration and sardonic absurdity, he scoffs at the elements, institutes suspense, vanquishes or renounces in the man-matter clinch that mysteriously poetic tableaux vivants form. He growls before adversity, furiously goes at it without fearing the boredom that such obstinacy could cause and, in repetition, skims the surface of something existential. Secret has evolved since 2004; stripped of certain numbers which are entirely circus performances, it has become purer. And the plastic constructions that comprise the show have taken on a new importance, perhaps more essential to the project's global sense. But we are still at the circus. A circus under pressure, between power and fragility. And a strange and sidereal beauty wells up out of this shared “Secret”.
Distribution
Conception, mise en piste et interprétation: Johann Le Guillerm
Création musicale et jeu en direct: Mathieu Werchowski, Guy Ajaguin
Régie lumière: Manuel Majastre
Régie piste et manipulation de sculptures de cirque: Fanny Baxter, Franck Bonnot
Régie générale: Olivier Buthaud
Conception lumières: Hervé Gary
Création costumes: Corinne Baudelot assistée de Sylviane Mouchère
Réalisation des chaussures en acier: Didier Deret
Réalisation des chaussures de cuir: Antoine Bolé
Construction machinerie lumières: Sylvain Ohl, Maryse Jaffrain
Réalisation des sculptures de cirque: Sylvain Ohl, Maryse Jaffrain, Serge Calvier, Didier Deret, Lucas de Staël, Jean-Christophe Dumont, Alain Burkarth, Michel Grossard, Cécile Briand
Production
Producteur: Cirque ici –Johann Le Guillerm
Producteurs associés: le Parc de la Villette, Le Channel–Scène nationale de Calais, Agora–Scène conventionnée de Boulazac, Le Carré magique–scène conventionnée de Lannion, Cirque-Théâtre d'Elbeuf–Centre des arts du cirque de Haute Normandie
Coproductions: Circuits–Scène conventionnée Auch Gers Midi-Pyrénées, Scène nationale de Sénart, Équinoxe–Scène nationale de Châteauroux, Maison de la Culture de Bourges, Le Granit–Scène nationale de Belfort, Théâtre national de Bordeaux en Aquitaine, Les Subsistances de Lyon, Théâtre national de Toulouse, Excentrique festival de la Région Centre, Théâtre de Grasse–Scène conventionnée pour la danse et le cirque, Le lieu unique–Scène nationale de Nantes
Cirque ici–Johann Le Guillerm est artiste associé du Parc de La Villette et “Parrain” du Cirque-Théâtre d'Elbeuf
Avec le soutien: du ministère de la Culture (DMDTS et DRAC Îlede-France), du ministère des Affaires étrangères (CULTURESFRANCE), du Conseil régional d'Île-de-France, de la Sacd, de l'association Beaumarchais / Sacd, du CRITTMECA (Île-de-France), de la Ville de Paris, de CULTURESFRANCE / Ville de Paris et du Groupe des Musiques Vivantes de Lyon
La Fondation BNP Paribas accompagne les projets du Cirque ici –Johann Le Guillerm depuis 1999
Secret créé en décembre 2003 au Channel-Scène nationale de Calais.
avec le soutien du Festival d'Avignon