At the intersection of an artistic expression space, a festive event, and a political manifestation, carnival is a popular form of parade where dance, song, costumes, masks, musical instruments, travesties, satire, and texts coexist. It constitutes a form of resistance through the celebration of oneself, one's community, and ancestral customs, while also allowing everyone to envision themselves as creative individuals capable of dressing up, dancing, and singing.
This workshop by Guadeloupean fashion designer and stage director Marvin M’toumo proposes to form, over five days of collective creation and research, a carnival group with its songs, dances, and costumes.
The goal of this workshop will be to draw from the vibrancy, flamboyance, and carelessness of carnival ceremonies around the world to create a parade in which various performance practices, fashion, sculpture, dance, and more will coexist in a choreographed disorder. Participants will create using everyday skills and low-cost materials (paper, fabrics, papier-mâché, cardboard, etc.) elegant costumes to parade in a procession, while simultaneously inventing themselves as musicians, singers, and dancers during the parade. This will be an opportunity to celebrate, in a decomplexed format, key issues such as DIY, resourcefulness, and free bodily expression, as well as our dream worlds of art, theatre, and fashion.
The evaluation is based on participation in the five days of the workshop and on the degree of active engagement of the participant-e-x.