Chloe SINDERA et Oihan INDART
Dancers

Chloé and Oihan received a grant to enter the Elirale dance company.

Interview of Chloé Sindera
What is your artistic background ?
I began my artistic career at the age of seven. After obtaining my diploma in choreographic studies, mainly classical, at the Maurice Ravel Conservatory on the Basque Coast, I joined professional training centres such as the Junior Ballet d'Aquitaine in Bordeaux and the Gillet-Lipszyc centre in Biarritz. To finesse my skills, I entered the Bordeaux Music and Dance Higher Education Centre to complete my module in dance history, anatomy and music, while continuing my dance training in the choreographic unit of the Conservatoire Jacques Thibaud in Bordeaux, with a focus on contemporary dance. At the same time, I had the opportunity to work with various choreographers and renowned dancers such as Paco Decina, Dominique Brun and Mathilde Froustey. In June 2015, I joined the Elirale company, supported by the Porosus endowment fund, which allowed me, among other things, to take tothe stage in Avignon for a revival of the role of Ninika. A very enriching first experience in the professional world! Throughout 2015 and 2016, I worked with various companies and choreographers, such as Neopost Foofwad for a performance presented during the festival Le Temps d'Aimer La Danse (Biarritz). In partnership with Elirale, I also worked on a collaboration with Les Cailloux Sauvages de Bordeaux, where, through research laboratories, we created a piece (Abitabli), which combined songs, dance, music and sign language. All that year, we were lucky enough to be able to perform in public many times in creation residencies (Oa-Huetak) or role revivals (Satie-ka). We also had the opportunity to raise awareness among our public, so I was able to pass on my artistic knowledge to children and teenagers in choreographic workshops. I am currently working, with the Elirale company, on the creation of new projects which are due to be debuted at the end of 2016 and during 2017.

How do you see your profession today ?
Dance is a very demanding activity, which requires a lot of work and great dedication. Through dance, it is possible to express, receive and transmit any emotion. It's like expressing yourself in ways other than words. For me, dance is liberating, unique and makes me feel alive. It is a need, a necessity. Finally, dance is not a fixed practice, it transforms itself, evolves through a historical and cultural process.

How do you see yourself in 5 years ? In 10 years ?
For now, I live my passion for dance, I believe and I hope that this passion will offer me opportunities for the future.

Interview of Oihan Indart
What is your artistic background ?
My artistic career began in Saint-Etienne de Baigorri, a small village in the Basque Country, where I joined the "Arrola" traditional dance group at the age of five and the music school, where I began to learn the diatonic accordion at the age of six. Then, when I arrived in Bayonne to continue my studies at 14, I joined the Maurice Ravel regional conservatory to take music theory lessons and later start a traditional music course. At the age of seventeen, I discovered dance in a broader sense by participating in several semi-professional productions with the Bilaka, Getaria, Zarena Zarelako and Maritzuli companies. Finally, I joined the Elirale company, supported by the Porosus Endowment Fund, after auditioning in January 2015. My first stage experience with the company was at the Avignon Festival, in a revival of Ninika at the Golovine Theatre. It was only then that I felt up to the demands of the festival (performances, parades, towing, physical endurance, the length of the festival), and the world of live performance, working with names such as Prejlocaj and Hofesh Shechter. In September, I participated in the festival project Le Temps d'Aimer la Danse with choreographer Neopost Foofwa. I then took part in the collaboration between Elirale and the Bordeaux company Les Cailloux Sauvages for a piece for young audiences, Abitabli Biribil. The play Satie-kafrom the repertoire of the Elirale company was also an opportunity to challenge myself with different audiences (daycare, retirement homes, etc.), which was very formative. I also had the opportunity to take part in the Xihiko project, for which I expanded my knowledge of the creative process. In addition to this time of creation and dissemination, I carried out mediation actions with target audiences. Finally, the various creative projects: Oa-Huetak, Bihotz2and Artha,in which I am involved, will also benefit me to develop.

How do you see your profession today ?
After a year's immersion in the dance profession, I continue to think that dance is a very demanding discipline that requires work and continuous research on both a physical and psychological level, and this paradoxically fills me with satisfaction as a musician.

How do you see yourself in 5 years ? In 10 years ?
I hope that in five years I will have had even more training and stage experience in order to reach, in 10 years’ time, a maturity that will allow me to enjoy the pleasure of being a performer beyond a classical dancer's traditional scope. 

This interview was conducted in 2016
Photo credit: Emilie Arfeuil