The dancer Solange Lebourges captures her stage metamorphosis in a book

The dancer lives on a thread. On a thread he dances. On the border between the serious play of a child and the craft of an adult, the dancer does not want to lose fantasy. Often on the verge of falling, swinging on one foot, hanging from a set, but always defying gravity… Fragile, naked, he constantly takes risks,” writes the dancer Solange Lebourges (France, 1951) in her book What I danced… no one takes it away from me.

The autobiographical text, in which the author includes reflections and her passion for dance, was published by the Nicolasa label, and will be presented today at the Vasconcelos Library, in Mexico City. With this publication, the label begins the international distribution of books in that discipline by Mexican authors.

In an interview, the dancer, teacher and writer of French origin, naturalized Mexican in 2005, Solange Lebourges, explains that in her memoirs “she wanted to speak from the body and what the experience is; I did not want to theorize about dance or the craft, but rather to communicate a reality and the scenic metamorphosis that implies when you stop being yourself to be other characters that are nourished by your sensitivity, experience and knowledge.

I wanted to translate this phenomenon into words and show it, share it with dancers and society, because this profession still has a long way to go to be recognized, valued and appreciated, although there are fewer prejudices than when I started dancing, more than 50 years ago. Of course, nowadays the discipline is more present in society.

After her farewell to the stage, in July 2004, the dancer went into an emotional crisis; He enrolled in a literary workshop and began to develop the knowledge he learned in the degree in modern literature, which he took at the University of Nanterre, which sparked the writing of What I danced… no one takes it away from me, book that helped him recover your identity.

Body, mind and spirit

The author, who arrived in Mexico on January 31, 1978, and in 1980 joined the Ballet Teatro del Espacio, directed by Gladiola Orozco and Michel Descombey, considers that the task of the performer is to give the body, the mind, the spirit. In his text he calls it the triad: physical body, emotional body and mental body.

It is a triad because you work at the same time with the body, feelings and mind. You have to prepare, organize, and the dancers are very organized in their work and know how to plan their day. The three aspects are linked every day in the performance, in the class, in the rehearsal; in life tooshares teacher Solange, who was awarded the Medal of Fine Arts in 2004.

In the book, the author narrates from her first classes in Paris, her hometown; her arrival in Mexico and the personal revolution that the move implied, until her long stay as a dancer with Ballet Teatro del Espacio (BTE), whose body masterfully embodied the poetics of maestro Michel Descombey.

“When I entered the BTE I knew who the teacher was because of the Paris Opera; I knew his career as a choreographer and first dancer; For me he was a luminary. I remember that he rode The opera dismembered, and he asked me to dance a very poetic duet where the woman practically does not touch the floor. From that dance onwards it gave me the opportunity to perform more duets.

“I had the ability to do that, and the teacher began to order me duets like Silence y Ophelia. Then he gave me the main roles in his plays. He was a magician both at illuminating the pieces and at bringing out the best in his performers; “He had a gift for guessing people’s expressive possibilities.”

See behind the scenes

What I danced… no one takes it away from me It is the possibility of seeing beyond what appears on the scene, understanding how dancers construct themselves as artists, the importance of daily classes, of discipline, of trust in each other and in others, because Dance is an activity that always involves community.

When remembering her retirement from the stage, Lebourges mentioned that in Paris dancers retire at 42, but she danced until she was 53. “I retired when I was old; I had hurt everything, and the physical wear and tear was too much; Furthermore, I no longer had the energy nor could I recover as quickly as the young people; Years go by and it is not the same.

“The truth is I wouldn’t have wanted to give performances and have them tell me: ‘at your age you’re still fine’; It was not my option, because I wanted to dance well until the end, that’s why I made the decision.”

For the interpreter of Shadow Land, Blue Duet, Prelude to a Faun’s Afternoon, The Transfigured Night, Midsummer Night y fantastic symphony, Dance has brought her many satisfactions in her life, although it took her away from her family.

There is a reward in this job, which is to be able to transmit, communicate, interpret at the highest level, as well as imprint on the viewers’ retinas, illusions, feelings, a possibility of change and hope. Perhaps as dancers we aim for a transformation in society, and art is part of the transformation.

The second edition of What I danced… no one takes it away from me It is enriched with new experiences, not only from someone who dedicated her life to dancing in one of the most important contemporary dance companies in Mexico, such as the BTE, but also provides reflections as a teacher who looks with amazement at the formation of the new generations. of dancers.

With the comments of Marcela Sánchez Mota and Hayde Lachino, the book What I danced… no one takes it away from me It is presented today at 1:00 p.m. in the main lobby of the Vasconcelos Library (Eje ​​1 norte Mosqueta, s/n corner Aldama, Buenavista neighborhood, Mexico City).