Published on : 09/23/2022 – 17:42Modified: 23/09/2022 – 17:40
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Villeurbanne (AFP) – The Bull Machin still sleeps while the Xolo wakes up for his bathroom, surrounded by servants in blue livery: the company Royal de Luxe and its two giant dogs invaded the center of Villeurbanne on Friday for three days of free parties.
“You can send the departure”, launches the director and founder of the company, Jean-Luc Courcoult, on the town hall square, surrounded by a joyful crowd of schoolchildren and onlookers.
The black beast sleeping on burlap sacks at the foot of an orange and blue parasol shudders, pricks its ears, opens its eyes, as half a dozen servants perched on a construction machine activate the puppet giantess’s gears on the Swedish blues soundtrack .
“Attention … clean the eyelids … clean the snow on the bowl”, launches one of the actors with a red speaker. The articulated dog snorts and rushes with his army of servants, preceded by a yellow two-wheeler dominated by a seagull.
The new monumental creation of Royal de Luxe is part of the special programs of Villeurbanne, for its year of “French capital of culture”.
“We leave the saga of the giants, with the characters, for a saga with animals that will make a frantic race around the city”, explains Jean Louis Bonnin, one of the directors of the Nantes company.
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As the procession passes, the children laugh and shout, the adults smile, the crowd exchanges knowing glances, a carnival atmosphere invades the neighborhood emptied of its cars.
“It’s great,” says Ghislaine Yala, a 56-year-old spectator who has rediscovered the flavor of childhood.
“My favorite is when it wiggles its ears,” wonders Sacha, 7, as he gallops onto the sidewalk to keep up with the Xolo.
“It’s really nice to mobilize an entire city,” adds Amanda Sariano, her mother, who came to accompany her son’s class.
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As always, the company, which boasts more than 1,500 performances in 43 countries since its creation in 1979, wants to “create poetry on the streets of the city, echoing the urban environment and the population,” confides Jean-Pierre Marcos, a ” travel companion “of Royal de Luxe.
Here as elsewhere, “it is a story that is told in three days, a story with different sequences and events” fragmented in time and space.
“Several generations have seen the Royal de Luxe shows and each adds a little bit of history to the story. And so, it creates imagination and it is this poem that is extremely important,” adds Jean-Louis Bonin.
Legend has it that Xolo was born in Mexico, has already paraded with the giants of the company, is used to the public. His new companion, the Bull Machin, is taking his first steps in Villeurbanne, he grew up walking on the cobbles of the city, measures 4.40 meters, weighs 800 kg and never moves without his lamppost.
The two dogs will roam the streets for two days before meeting on Sunday for a “grand prix”. The art director, Jean-Luc Courcoult, worked on the project for more than two years, with models, highly detailed locations on the ground, then rehearsals for manipulations.
The show cost about 2 million euros and mobilizes a hundred speakers from Nantes – “Lilliputians”, actors, acrobats, dancers, commentators or props … -, in addition to as many volunteers recruited in Villeurbanne.
© 2022 AFP
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