At once a mov­ing sculp­ture, a del­ic­ate per­form­ance and a slow cho­reo­graphy, Les Baigneurs (Bathers) infuses space with poetry and oneir­ic ges­tures – anoth­er pace and oth­er col­ors in the atmo­sphere of an ideal summer. 

Under the Fal­aise sky, Yvan Clédat and Coco Petit­pi­erre draw inspir­a­tion from bathers, often rep­res­en­ted in mod­ern paint­ing from Picas­so to Léger, for a peace­ful and dreamy per­form­ance in the Danse de tous les Sens fest­iv­al. Hid­den in sur­pris­ing and col­or­ful pleated tulle cos­tumes in soft hues, the “fusion­al duo of artists” embody two big dolls wear­ing striped bathing cos­tumes that wander slowly in the pub­lic space, engrossed in the enjoy­ment of the pleas­ures of sum­mer. Sun­bathing, loun­ging, play­ing and embra­cing each oth­er, the two char­ac­ters play famil­i­ar sea­side scenes that appear as a series of images, with two sea-blue beach tow­els and a sun-yel­low ball as props. The duo explores slowly this con­densed world, a primary and child­like con­voc­a­tion of an oneir­ic uni­verse whose slow rhythm con­trasts with the urb­an hustle and bustle. Ever since it premiered in 2017 on the banks of Lake Geneva, Les Baigneurs has been reprised on sev­er­al occa­sions in vari­ous coun­tries, in a myri­ad sin­gu­lar and unique moments.