It is with dance, this body language, that Mès Lesne frees his spirit. Inspired by flamenco and urban dance, he has developed a unique style, with powerful energy and an unidentifiable identity, which he brings to its peak in his first choreographic film “Cor.” Rencontre.
Who are you?
I am a dancer and choreographer. At the age of 10, I started dancing with hip-hop classes with choreographer Michel Onomo. He took me under his wing and trained me, along with other foreign dancers who came to give classes. When I was 15, I was able to join his dance company. I was able to travel all over Europe and gain in maturity, because I was very young compared to Michel and his dancers.
I began to open myself to different styles of dance, notably flamenco, contemporary, and all the dances that could inspire me, touch me. All these gestures allowed me to make a mix to integrate them in my dance. I always wanted to have my style, my identity. For me, it started with a wide variety of influences and then creating a “strange and weird” dance. I like this idea of questioning the movements. What is he dancing? What is he doing? I really wanted to have my mark, to have people ask: if I hide my face, do they recognize me?
Can you tell us about your short film “Cor”?
The project was born a little over nine months ago. I was watching a rugby video and the images were crazy! The match was taking place in the rain, and with the players’ movements, the field had become a muddy pitch. I immediately imagined capturing the movements of these players, focusing on their bodies, their faces, their expressions. I wanted to recreate this situation with dancers. While developing the scenario of the film, the idea came up of a pack, of a lost youth but one that seeks freedom, like the rugby players.
What does the title “Cor” symbolize?
At first, we wanted to call the project “Corps.” But the term was too broad and we really wanted to gather in the title this aspect of pack, of common body. The word “horn” was quickly chosen. It’s the musical instrument used for hunting, to remind us of the pack of dogs. I liked the double meaning of this term.
The characters are marked with blue symbols on their bodies and faces. What do they represent?
I wanted the film to have an identity. That these dancers, these bodies, these “unhooked jumps” be identifiable by a symbol. So I worked with a friend, Enfant Précoce, who immediately understood what was needed. He came up with these drawings, childlike and easy to reproduce, which make a lasting impression with their blue color. Affixed to different parts of the bodies of the six dancers, they represent their own “unhooked jumps.”
Who did you create it with?
Things followed in a natural and fluid way. La Belle Facon immediately supported the project by producing it. I then contacted two director friends, the SimonaGun, with whom we quickly agreed on the shooting location. Lanzarote. The volcanic landscapes, the dark land, immediately made me think of the rugby game. For the music, I met the composer Pablo Bozzi through a friend. As soon as we met, we started working on the music. We were in a café in Paris, headphones on. I gave him the tempo; he found the sound. The idea was really to recreate the breath, the cry of the dancers, and to give rhythm to the movement of the bodies.
For the costume, I wanted to put the body in front. So I needed something raw and simple. Jeans being the most interesting, we collaborated with the brand ACNE, which was a real support.
We discover your signature jump the “unhooked jump.”
How was this movement born?
This jump was born in a dance hall. I love aerial movements, and that’s what I develop in my dance. I wanted to create a jump and visualize it in slow motion. I wanted the body to be “unhooked,” whether it be the head, the arms, the chest, the legs. I wanted broken gestures, like the pictogram of the pedestrians on the lights. A friend of mine filmed me in slow motion jumping, and that’s when I started to develop this movement.
Is “Cor” the beginning of more choreographic films?
Yes, I would like to make others, longer, more advanced. I see the film as a way to accompany my dance and mix the arts and all its forms. We are already working on a film, more intimate, which focuses on my dance. I will be present as a dancer in a duet with another person who works in a different artistic discipline.
The short film can be seen on www.nowness.com
Louise Conesa
