Encounters and international partnership
 
This project naturally came to be at the end of a meeting organised by the International Commission of the French-speaking Theatre (CITF), which had taken the initiative to bring together fifteen French-speaking artists from different countries (Gabon, Cameroun, Senegal, Quebec-Canada, France, Belgium).

For these artists, to discover each other and meet in the context of of an essentially informal mission, was to create the perfect setting for the discovery and realisation of common artistic interests and potential collaborations .



« Avanti ! » came to be as a result of a meeting, the meeting of three people:
 

Patricia Gomis, co-director of  the theater company “Côté Jardin”, Dakar, Senegal. “Côté Jardin” being one of the few recognized Youth Theatre companies in Senegal. Additionally, Patricia Gomis has already displayed her acting skills in France.
 
Jeannine Gretler, originally from Switzerland , director of the theater company “Orange Sanguine” , Brussels, Belgium. Since 1992, her pursuit of various training and theater experiences have brought her to visit many countries across Europe.
 
Gérard Corbion, cofounder of the theater company la Casquette , Brussels, Belgium. Present in the Youth Theater field for more than 25 years, he trained mainly at the theater school of Lassaâd Saïdi (pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq), the school that Jeannine Gretler attended as well .

 

Patricia Gomis, Jeannine Gretler and Gerard Corbion speak about the genesis of Avanti !

From the very beginning, we all realised that the international nature of the project would bring a new and adventurous approach to all levels of creation which would be both exciting and enriching. This was confirmed to us later throughout the actual creative process that followed. Although arduous at times, the human and professional benefits were much greater than its pitfalls.

The fact that we all had experience in clown technique seemed to us an important artistic uniting point which would allow us to work better together despite our different cultural approaches to clowning which in the end, proved to be more interesting than problematic.


A clownesque play without dialogue, evoking the notion of the “beginning” and with very easy technical elements, was the parameter that we set ourselves to define the first steps of our artistic journey...




After having brought the whole artistic team together, it was still necessary for us to find structural and financial partners, to organise the co-production and to set a timeframe for the development of the play, which meant that the creation of the play itself was an adventure! (over the course of several months, steps were taken in Senegal, in France and in Belgium...) .

We  quickly started the creative process with rehearsals taking place in Senegal, Belgium and France , followed by the three premieres in 2005 at the festivals "Méli-môme" of Reims, "P'tit Monde" of Hazebrouck and at “la Roseraie” in Brussels.





Shortly after, the coproduction "Avanti! " was present in August 2005 at the festival "EU Theatre Arts for Children and Young People Festival 2005 in A Vertical Tour of Japan" in Japan followed by a proposed inclusion in the program of the “ Rencontres de Théâtre Jeune Public de Huy”   in Belgium (Meetings of Youth Theatre of Huy), of which the outcome was a tour that began in April 2006 and continues with much success to this day.