Les Inaccoutumés Festival at La Ménagerie de Verre, Paris

Key facts

• Festival Les Inaccoutumés ran from 09/11 to 04/12/10 at La Ménagerie de Verre, Paris.
• Curated by Marie-Thérèse Allier, who has programmed two festivals annually for about 15 years.
• The festival is dedicated to dance, while Étrange Cargo is for theater.
• Artists included Alain Buffard, Christian Rizzo, Yves-Noël Genod, Thomas Ferrand, Juan Dominguez, Amalia Fernandez, Cécile Proust, Jacques Hoepffner, François Chaignaud, Cecilia Bengolea, Jeune Fille Orrible, and Les Chiens de Navarre.
• Performances challenged classification between dance and theater, a trend from 1990s conceptual dance.
• Thomas Ferrand presented 'Extase de Sainte Machine', a living tableau about immobility.
• Juan Dominguez and Amalia Fernandez performed 'Schichimi Togarashi', a series of playful digressions.
• Cécile Proust and Jacques Hoepffner's 'femmeusesaction#24' was a lecture on gender construction.
• François Chaignaud and Cecilia Bengolea revived François Malkovsky's free dances in 'Hydra'.
• Jeune Fille Orrible performed a trash sound event à la John Cage.
• Les Chiens de Navarre presented a drunken conversation on Europe that degenerated into an apocalyptic Last Supper.
• The venue's low ceiling and non-raised stage created intimacy with the audience.
• Next festival: Étrange Cargo in March at La Ménagerie de Verre.