The parade of a hundred demons

Originally, dance was used collectively to celebrate nature in dialogue with culture. Dancer and choreographer Louis Gillard seizes on the symbol of the passage from winter to spring to initiate a participatory wander led by 20 teenagers leaving childhood for adulthood. The Hundred Demons Parade invites actors and audiences alike to shed their inner demons. It's based on a Japanese folk belief that, every year, a number of yōkai (spirits, strange apparitions...) in anthropomorphic and zoomorphic forms take over the streets at night, until the following sunrise. With the help of a musician from Strasbourg specializing in the Balinese gamelan, which serves as the social foundation for the rituals governing life's important events, the overused notion of "popular" is given a new meaning. Alongside taikos (traditional Japanese drums), he recreates an instrumentarium made from industrial and salvaged materials, to create an artful music that everyone can get to grips with. By marching and dancing together, this cathartic, carnivalesque feast porpoises the usual frontiers separating viewers and viewers.

After studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Louis Gillard worked with the brothers Christian and François Ben Aïm, and Marina Mascarell before his decisive encounter with Kaori Ito. Since 2016, he has performed in Dear, Battle mon cœur and artistic collaborator on Animal with the equestrian circus of the Théâtre du Centaure, and Waré Mono. In September 2023, he joined the artists' committee of the TJP CDN Strasbourg - Grand Est and gave workshops at the Théâtre national de Strasbourg and the Haute École des Arts du Rhin. In 2024, Louis Gillard founded his company de(s)clic. Sensitive to the idea that every form is a process in mutation, he develops an instinctive approach to creation. He is working on his first solo, PatchworkA work in progress is presented during the Micro Giboulées.