Les Invites de Villeurbanne Three questions for Nadège Prugnard

You took up the directorship of Les Ateliers Frappaz in January ahead of the festival in June… What was the biggest challenge for you to meet?

The difficulty was creating a festival in a couple of months and running an artistic project for Les Ateliers Frappaz at the same time. I want Les Ateliers to be happening all year round, while continuing to welcome in residence and working on compositional aspects. Initial workshops have already been a great success, like the one organised in March with Christian Olivier, singer-guitarist and founding member of Têtes Raides. 

Les Invites is returning after a three-year hiatus; how would you describe the event?

It remains a festival unlike any other, as it has been for the past 18 editions: engaged; accessible to all; multi-disciplinary; free; a fusion of street performance, circus arts, drama and music with more than 100 shows. It celebrates freedom of expression in public spaces. Festival-goers will find all its usual features, including artists from around the world, catering by local associations, funny, participative and moving highlights, concerts in the parks... And, because works are going on around town, urban spaces will be brought to life through staging, including works by artist Aurélien Nadaud, a specialist in construction tape art.

Do you have a personal favourite to share with us?

The show being prepared at the Théâtre National Populaire promises to be amazing. It’s a metaphor of the fall; an hour-long performance where the dancers, their feet in the mud, repeatedly fall and get back up again… Another favourite will be music by the group Kokoko! from Kinshasa.. It should be a lot of fun. Also, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the neighbourhood Gratte-Ciel, a monumental work ‘Place des anges’, will bring the festival to a close in a flurry of feathers and flying angels…

© Gilles Michallet / Ville de Villeurbanne

Les Invites de Villeurbanne - Festival pas pareil

Festival

Quartier Gratte-Ciel - 69100 Villeurbanne
04 72 65 80 90

invites.villeurbanne.fr

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