Océan Brun – Compagnie Kaméléonite

In 2011, the once clear waters of the Caribbean began to change colour, ladened with sargassum. The toxic seaweed has not just turned the ocean brown, but transformed the lives of those who depend on the sea.

The work is choreographed by Marlène Myrtil, who drew inspiration from conversations and artistic workshops with people living along the coastlines of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Océan Brun is nourished by imaginary, suspended and contrasted moments illuminated by Fred Lagnau’s dramatic videographic visuals. The unbearable landscape becomes dreamlike, in which the performers’ dance, like an undertow, reclaims vitality and the liberation of language. From the inside out, Océan Brun offers a path of listening and feeling, where the two dancers, Deborah Lary and Francis Saint-Albin, question the body as landscape, the body as matter, expose their fragility and set out to reclaim their own breath.

Compagnie Kaméleonite was founded by Marlène Myrtil in 1998 in Paris before transferring to Martinique in 2008. The company’s research and creative processes are rooted in and developed around issues related to heritage, the environment and the impact of post-colonial society.

Image credit: Océan brun, photographer Elise Fitte-Duval