Review from: Circusstad Festival, Central Station concourse, Rotterdam; 2nd May 2025, 12.30
La Lévitation Réelle from Compagnie L’Immédiat is a ten-minute, subtle and wordless intervention in public space, neither flash nor intrusive enough to be called a flashmob. It sees travellers coming to the aid of another who has lost touch with the ground, someone to whom the law of gravity no longer applies.
Led by circus maker Camille Boitel, the small team of acrobats impressively convey the participation of bystanders and the illusion of weightlessness. There’s an almost imperceptible accordionist in the background, playing so quietly as to hardly be heard. The whole is so subtle, bar the occasional swoop across the square, that some casual bystanders might not even notice the performance is happening, though on occasions a pose is struck with just that bit too much poise and precision that some onlookers clap at the expense of the illusion.
For the most part, the acrobats do a delightful job of convincing the public passing by that people are at risk of floating away like helium balloons.
Director & Choreography : Camille BOITEL
Assistant Director, collaborator : Sève BERNARD
Creation team : Hemda BEN ZVI, Camille BOITEL, Vincent BRIERE, Tuk
FREDERIKSEN , Voleak UNG
Alternating with : Enrico FERLUGA, Pedro GUERRA, Chloé LACIRE, Àfrica
LLORENS, Celeste MENDOZI, Johnson SAINT-FELIX, Maxime SEGHERS
Alternating musicians : Camille BOITEL, Marielle CHATAIN, Nahuel MENENDEZ
Technical Director : Stéphane GRAILL
Production Management : Agathe FONTAINE, Elsa LEMOINE
Production : L’immédiat
Coproduction : Les Ateliers Frappaz, Centre National des Arts de la Rue et dans
l’espace public, Villeurbanne / L’Abattoir, Centre National des Arts de la Rue – Pôle
Arts de la Rue de Chalon-sur-Saône / Le Fourneau, Centre National des Arts de la
Rue et de l’ Espace Public / Lieux publics, Centre National de Création pour
l’Espace Public de Marseille / Groupe Geste(s) / CIRCa, Pôle National Cirque, Auch
Gers Occitanie / La Verrerie d’Alès, Pôle National Cirque Occitanie / Théâtre Victor
Hugo, Scène des Arts du Gestes de Bagneux, EPT Vallée Sud Grand Paris / Equinoxe,
Scène Nationale de Châteauroux
Financial support from FONDOC, Montpellier Danse and Hivernales d’Avignon
“La Lévitation réelle” was a laureate of Les Plateaux du Groupe Geste(s) in 2021
L’immediat benefits from the financial support of le Ministere de la Culture (the Arts
Council), along with « La Région Ile de France » in the name of its contribution
to territorial enhancement through artistic creation.
L’immédiat receives project development funding from the Fondation BNP Paribas.
