Project Description

This Dancerie: The Paris Project

A collaboration project by Tony Whitfield, Sebastiano d'Ayala Valva, Klaus Fruchtnis, Thierry Micouin, Nils Nusens, Patricio Sarmiento and Andrew Alden

This Dancerie is a multi-event, multi-site, multi-media work that explores the ways in which gay men have created public expressions of desire despite mainstream prohibitions of manifestations of those aspects of their lives in the context of Paris as a complex historical cultural arena for this exploration.

The pretext of This Dancerie is urbanization as a prerequisite for homosexual subculture and the understanding that despite the absence of “gay ghettos, ” gay men developed and carried on forbidden lives in public it cities around the world. This Dancerie focuses on Paris as a cross-road of queer life in which, although, technically, homosexuality was legal since 1791, decency was legislated and under surveillance.

This Dancerie will create a series of foci on Paris as a site of refuge for queer men and the environments they historically frequented. Particular attention will be placed on developing narratives that include a range of differing intersections of class, race, creeds, ethnicities and gender the collaborators will develop a movement based-work for male groupings drawing upon culturally specific traditions. The role immigration plays in these narratives will also be underscored.

This Dancerie is a multi-event, multimedia collaborative work under the artistic direction of Tony Whitfield. This project will be a collaboration between Whitfield, as Executive Producer and Artistic Director, Thierry Micouin as Director of Choreography, media artist Klaus Fruchtnis as Technical Director, fashion designer Patricio Sarmiento, filmmaker Sebastiano d’Ayala Valva and composer/musician Nils Nussen, all from France and composer/ musician Andrew Alden, and filmmakers Joe Lumbroso and Dyana Winkler, from the United States. Eight to ten sites across the City where same sex desire has created a shifting landscape of criminalized activity, class-complicated entanglements, immigrant freedom, forbidden commerce, transgressive beauty and encoded seduction will be the context for short filmed dance/movement based narratives since 1870. Each three to five minute films will begin with a cruising ritual and be filmed in those spaces. For several evenings the films will be presented in situ as projected images activated by passersby movement. Ideally these installations would be debuted as part of Paris’ La Nuit Blanche in 2017.

These films would then be brought together into a single space to produce an additional evening long performance or “dance party” that would be digitally randomized and improvisationally scored for classical ensemble and world pop musicians. Ideally the space would be situated in a cultural center and include a live performance component that involved local gay residents. Various forms of social media will be employed to augment and reveal aspects of the project's narrative content during the culminating dance party and its scatter site installations.

Several aspects of this project should move it beyond the context of performance based works that explore cultural identity and history. They include: the site specific nature of the public installation that will seek to revive unknown queer histories in ways that immerse the audience in the projected work; the creation of apps that will allow the participant to access deeper know of the history behind the narrative they have stumbled into as well as information about the artwork itself and other components of the work at other sites across Paris as well as multifaceted entries into the "dance party."

It is anticipated that audiences for This Dancerie will include: post modern dance, experimental music, expanded cinema, public art and contemporary performing arts audiences. In addition general public members who are attending events associated with Paris' La Nuit Blanche 2017 and local commmunities adjacent to the various sites in which This Danceries' short constituent works will be situated.This project will seek to engage LGBTQI populations including scholars, artists, performers and youth. Social media, print and electronic media associated with La Nuit Blanche and the venue that will host the culminating event will be drawn upon in addition to apps established specifically for This Dancerie.

The primary goal is to reveal the queer past and present of Paris as an urban geography that has been multifaceted, ethnically, economically, and culturally diverse while also revealing those aspects of queer life that defy normalization, concealment behind closed doors challenge notions of "decency" are tied to desire and find expression despite histories of policing and surveillance. In addition this work will seek to engage collaborative, improvisational and interactive structures and technologies to create social points of entry and discussion among various queer communities across Paris and beyond as a means of expanding current discussions about same sex desire.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Food for Thought: Prostitution in Paris

France, a country which sees itself as admirably relaxed on sexual matters, is struggling to answer the oldest question in the world. How should it deal with prostitution?

An influx of prostitutes from eastern Europe, Africa and even China, has overturned the cosy – some say hypocritical – consensus that has governed the world of vice in France for more than half a century.

The increasingly obtrusive presence of prostitutes on the streets of many French cities has launched a heated debate. Should prostitutes, and their clients, be repressed? Or should prostitution be recognised as a trade, as in Holland and Germany?

The right-wing mayor of one of the wealthiest Paris arrondissements – which has been overrun with very young prostitutes from eastern Europe – caused consternation a few days ago by calling for the re-opening of the legal brothels, or "maisons closes", which were outlawed in 1946.

The proposal by Françoise de Panafieu, the mayor of the 17th arrondissement, aroused a storm of indignation from left-wing politicians and some prostitute support groups, who accused her of wanting to "legalise slavery".

Prostitution is legal in France, but active soliciting and pimping are not. For many years street prostitution – mostly confined to the rue Saint-Denis area of central Paris or the Bois de Boulogne – was tolerated, even though soliciting and pimping were inextricable parts of the business.

The new wave of foreign prostitutes, run by violent criminal gangs, has broken down this informal arrangement. There are now thought to be 15,000 male and female prostitutes in France, with 7,000 in Paris alone. Many are illegal immigrants, from Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, francophone Africa and, more recently, China. If caught, they can be expelled, but the legal procedures take months and new girls arrive all the time.

The Interior Minister Nicola Sarkozy is drawing up a law to cut through the red tape and make it easier to expel foreign women engaged in prostitution. In the meantime, the sudden, visible presence of prostitutes in wealthy areas of Paris and other cities has brought hundreds of complaints to politicians. Some have called for prostitution to be made illegal in France for the first time.

The Paris town hall says that it will shortly call for a law which would make it illegal to buy sexual favours. Police in Bordeaux – at the request of the mayor and former prime minister Alain Juppé – are already making imaginative use of existing laws. Several men have been arrested while having sex with prostitutes in cars and accused of "sexual exhibition in a public place". Others have been formally accused of "soliciting others, with a view to sexual relations" – an accusation which is traditionally used against prostitutes, not their clients.

Nicole Ameline, the Minister for Women's Affairs in the new centre-right government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin, spoke to prostitutes on the streets of Paris last week and promised to launch an "interministerial" investigation. She dismissed the idea of re-opening the maisons closes but said that the suggestion had at least forced people to think seriously about the problem.

French prostitutes, and prostitutes' organisations, fear that the debate is already heading in the wrong direction. Any laws attacking prostitution, they say, would harm French prostitutes without curbing the influx of new girls from abroad. Claude Boucher, who runs the "Bus des femmes", a bus which tours soliciting areas to help prostitutes, complains: "Everything is getting mixed together. French prostitutes are now a minority on the streets. The foreigners are not prostitutes but slaves, victimised by criminals."

Marie, a middle-aged woman soliciting on the rue Saint-Denis, had a more direct solution. "They should just round up and throw out all these foreigners who are bringing our trade into disrepute," she said.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Food for Thought for 1900 section: Pierre Chesneau Improvises a Bourree

Food for Thought: Proletarian French Voguers

Food for Thought: Butte Chaumont Park in the 19th

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Stunning Buttes-Chaumont Park in the 19th Arrondissement

Rosa Bonheur Guingette/Restaurant

Most visitors to Paris don't make it to the 19th arrondissement, but if you've been here before and are looking for a new area to explore, the Buttes-Chaumont Park is the perfect destination, especially on a lovely day in April.

The Buttes-Chaumont Park, which is located on the site of former gypsum quarries, was created when Baron Haussmann, acting on the order of Napolean III, commissioned Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand to design a park for the working class village, La Vilette, that had just been annexed to Paris. The park's dramatic terrain, which was enhanced with the use of dynamite, features a grotto with artificial stalactites and a 32 meter (105 ft) waterfall cascading into an artificial lake. A small temple, reachable by traversing two bridges, is perched atop a large rocky cliff. It's easy to imagine the delight of the visitors to the World's Fair of 1867, which is when the park was inaugurated, as they strolled through the gardens and marvelled at its beauty.

Revelling in its pastoral pleasures, it's hard to believe that the park is situated on land that was previously used as a public dump, a slaughterhouse, and was also the location of the infamous Montfauçon gallows. During my second visit to Buttes-Chaumont, the leader of the WICE tour read the famous poem by François Villon, "La Ballade des pendus", or the "Ballad of the Hanged Men", that was a chilling reminder of the area's infamous past.

With its 25 ha (61 acres) of vast open spaces and secluded corners, Buttes-Chaumont is the perfect place for families, couples, and individuals. Take a picnic with a bottle of wine or a good book and enjoy your afternoon at the park!

Rosa Bonheur

Nestled on the peak of the Buttes Chaumont Park in the east of Paris, this young and trendy, gay-friendly spot, run by the former owners of the once-popular but now defunct lesbian glam club Pulp, has a massive outdoor terrace that gets packed when the weather turns warm. If you don’t get a seat at the picnic tables, prepare to squish like sardines with your fellow revellers. If that’s not your cup of tea, you can always take a place just outside the bar on the lawn of the park and soak up the good vibes. The crowd is mixed, but tends to attract hipster queer women and their associates.
Location: Parc des Buttes Chaumont - 2 avenue des Cascades, 19th arrondissement

Metro: Botzaris
Tel: + 33 (0)1 42 00 00 45
Visit the official website

PHOTO OF GAY MAN WHO WALKED THROUGH MUSLIM SUBURB OF PARIS WITH BOYFRIEND CAUSES SHOCK

Battered and bruised picture prompts questions about rise of extremism in western cities

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
April 10, 2013

A photo of a bruised and beaten gay man who claims he received his injuries while walking through a Muslim suburb of Paris arm in arm with his boyfriend has provoked shock and fresh concerns about the rise of ethnic extremism in western cities.

“A man in Paris, France was reportedly beaten for walking with arm in arm with his boyfriend Olivier early Sunday morning. Wilfred de Bruijn, a French resident, says he was assaulted while walking in Paris’ 19th arrondissement. He says he sustained several injuries, including a missing tooth, broken bones, and fractured pieces of bone in his skull. He posted a photo of his wounds on his Facebook page with the caption “Sorry to show you this. It’s the face of homophobia,” reports Al Jazeera.

The 19th arrondissement of Paris is mainly populated with Muslim and North African immigrant families and who live adjacent to Orthodox jews. The area is known for suffering high rates of crime fueled by “gang warfare,” and ethnically-charged clashes are commonplace.

The 19th arrondissement was also the location of some of the worst scenes of unrest during the city’s riots in 2005. Muslim extremists also attacked a gay club in Paris last year.

While the majority of people responded to de Bruijn’s photo by noting how it reflected the sad state of human rights in 2013, some accused him of faking the story, asking why the wounds were not dressed and why de Bruijn only took 10 days sick leave from work.

It is important to emphasize that most Muslims abhor violence and that those who resort to it are in the minority.

However, many see the rise of Muslim extremism in western cities as a growing menace that is being downplayed as a result of political correctness.

In January 2010, videos began to emerge of so-called “Muslim patrols” in different areas of London. Although condemned by mosques, the aim of the patrols was to create “Muslim zones” where behavior such as drinking alcohol, dressing inappropriately, or appearing to be homosexual was met with intimidation and threats by gangs of Muslim men.

Signs that read “Sharia controlled zone” have also been plastered all over communities in London and other UK cities, with residents warned, “You are entering a Sharia-controlled zone – Islamic rules enforced.”

On the other hand, numerous videos have also emerged of white people engaging in lurid racist rants against ethnic minorities on public transport. Such stories have received massive attention and countless thousands of comments. White people have also been the target of such rants metered out by blacks and Muslims.

The rise of social media and the widespread ability of people to film incidents in real time using cell phones has undoubtedly made it appear as if such activity is on the increase. However, the figures do show that “racist attacks” are increasing against both white populations and minorities in major western countries such as the United Kingdom and America.

Whether by accident or design, the intense media focus on these incidents has served to drive a further wedge between people of different ethnicity, faith and lifestyle – which in the long term will only serve to reduce the ability for people to unite under the banner of freedom in pursuit of their common interests.

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.

Food for Thought: Arab at Gay Pride Parade in Paris

Food for Thought: contemporary Gay-Friendly Mosque

France

‘Europe’s first gay-friendly mosque’ sparks controversy

Text by Ben MCPARTLAND

Latest update : 2012-12-05

A Muslim prayer centre, which has been dubbed Europe’s first gay-friendly mosque, opened in Paris this week. Its founder described it as the first step in breaking “prejudices in Islam”, but it has been criticised by religious leaders.

The opening of what has been dubbed Europe’s first gay-friendly mosque in Paris has been condemned by some of the city’s Muslim leaders for going “against the spirit of Islam”.

The new “mosque”, which opened on Friday in a small room inside the house of a Buddhist monk, has smashed a taboo in Islam by welcoming transgender and transsexual Muslims.

But the prayer room located in the eastern suburbs of Paris is not supported by any formal Muslim institution and many imams in France oppose it.

Against the rules of islam?
Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Grande Mosqueé in Paris, told FRANCE 24 that the opening of a new place of prayer for gay Muslims goes against the rules of Islam.

“The mosques that are already there accept everyone so creating one specifically for homosexuals is against the spirit of Islam. Worshippers go to a mosque to worship god, they don’t go to demonstrate their sexuality,” Boubakeur said. “This is an abuse of the definition of a mosque.”

Boubakeur argues that Islam’s rules on homosexuality were unambiguous.

“Homosexuality is condemned in 13 verses of the Koran. The only sexual relationship that is legitimate is between married men and women”, he said, though acknowledging that it is against Islam to be homophobic.

Abdallah Zekri, president of an organisation which monitors Islamophic attacks for the French Council of Muslims, also criticised the move. “We know that homosexual Muslims exist but opening a mosque (for them) is an aberration,” he said.

'Radically inclusive mosque'

Accepting homosexual Muslims is not the only religious taboo the new mosque will break, with the usual rules on separating men from women also to be sidelined.

The mosque’s founder, French-Algerian gay rights activist and practicing Muslim Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed, will also encourage women to lead Friday prayers.

“It’s a radically inclusive mosque, a mosque where people can come as they are,” Zahed, 35 told Reuters.

Zahed has already proved he is not afraid to risk a backlash in his own religious community by breaking with Islamic custom. He made headlines in April this year when he became the first French man to marry another man in a Muslim religious ceremony.

Speaking to FRANCE 24 shortly after that ceremony Zahed, an expert on the Koran, boldly said: “I am sure that if the Prophet Mohamed was still alive, he would marry gay couples”.

'First step in a long struggle'

Zahed is hoping the prayer room is just the beginning, and he eventually aims to create a cultural centre and library.

“This is just the first step in a long-term struggle to deconstruct prejudices within Islam in France,” he said in an interview with the BBC.

While a handful of gay-friendly mosques now exist in Canada, South Africa and the United States, Zahed believes his project is breaking new boundaries in France and Europe.

His desire to set up the mosque was motivated by a need to find a fixed gay-friendly prayer space for members of his fledgling association Homosexual Muslims of France, which has rapidly expanded since it was set up two years ago. It now boasts over 300 members.

Those likeminded Muslims clearly appreciate having their own place of worship, with one of the prayer leaders at the new mosque saying that hostility to gay Muslims had prompted many to quit the faith. “France sorely lacks a space like this,” the 38-year-old told Reuters, asking not to be named.

“Being homosexual and Muslim is borderline schizophrenic,” said another prayer leader.

The response from some of France’s Muslim leaders may not surprise Zahed, who is concerned about the reaction among more fanatical members of the Muslim community.

Although French authorities are not aware of any threats being made against him, he is anxious enough about the safety of worshippers to keep the mosque’s location secret.

Date created : 2012-12-02

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

This Dancerie: The Paris Project