Xavier Le Roy

the dissenting choreography of one Frenchman less

Bojana Cvejic

pp. 188-199

in: Clare Finburgh, Carl Lavery (eds), Contemporary French theatre and performance, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011

Abstract

Xavier Le Roy has conceived and presented his work as contemporary dance signed by a French choreographer, as opposed to disseminating it under the banner of French dance per se. As a contemporary French artist, Le Roy is inclined towards the themes and methods of French theory, such as, for instance, its critique of spectacle, exploration of alternative forms of spectatorship, and interest in how the body is represented. But in his attitude towards the material conditions of dance and its modes of production (both in terms of institution and dissemination), he has consciously sought to distance himself from the authorship model of choreography that dominates the French dance scene. More often that not, this positions the choreographer as the director of a given dance company, and also places her/him at the head of a Centre chorégraphique national (CNN). Le Roy's work has remained steadfastly independent and internationally orientated, and his attempt to experiment with alternative ways of working has, by implication, real aesthetic and political significance. This fact is critical because it determines the specific form of Le Roy's dissent from the majority of French nouvelle danse practitioners like Maguy Marin, Régine Chopinot, Angelin Preljocaj or Mathilde Monnier. In this mode of production, the existence of a stable company and well-funded infrastructure subsidized by the French State has resulted in a distinctive choreographic style and 'signature" that is perpetuated from one choreography to another.