The other side of the decor seen by Philippe Decouflé, with Contact, a creation that invites the spectator to be a bit more than a… spectator. Paying homage to musicals and to those who do them, this enchanting opus marks its return to Chaillot. Philippe Decouflé has, more than once, toyed with the idea of creating a musical comedy, but in his own way. Thus Contact is the result of this approach elaborated with his company seen as “an ephemeral gathering” of fifteen people, a troupe of faithful collaborators, including the musicians Nosfell and Pierre Le Bourgeois. To use Decouflé’s words: “We are attending the life of a troupe: rehearsals, exchanges. Everything that is usually hidden becomes stylised, choreographed and put to music for the occasion.” Under the influence of musicals that finds itself “mise en abîme” here, the action will be acted, danced and even sung. The choreographer promises “a minimalist dance and actions of real performance executed by high-flying acrobats and hilarious comedians”. We know the taste of the creator of Iris, Octopus and other poetic masterpieces for visual telescoping; this time, the idea is to pay homage to performance jobs and therefore to construct everything like the musicals of the past. A complete show for which Philippe Decouflé aims to draw from the American music-hall culture, and even in voguing, some sequences that are a bit crazy. “This will be the opportunity to play with ambivalence genres, to dress up, to transform women into men and vice versa.” Philippe Decouflé makes out of life the most lively of shows. / Philippe Noisette