L'Homme Semence

Alliance Française de Trivandrum in association with the Embassy of France in India will present

L’Homme Semence (« The Seed Giver »), A Dance-drama production adapted from the autobiographical story of Violette Ailhaud and directed by Estelle GUIHARD on 18 March. 6.00pm @ Vyloppilly Samskriti Bhavan.

In 1852, a village in the Basses-Alpes Region of France was brutally deprived of men by the repression that followed the Republican uprising against the coup d’état of Napoleon III. Two years went by in complete isolation for the women of the village. They took a vow that if a man came, he would be their common husband, so that life could continue in the wombs of each of them. The women had thought of and planned out everything, except the possibility of falling in love. This story is the disturbing real-life account of one of the women, Violette Ailhaud (1835-1925).

The production of The Seed Giver came of an encounter between two French artistes living in India over several years ; Anne Bressanges, actress, and Nancy Boissel Cormier, danseuse. the crew expanded with Props Manager Marie de la Bellière, and Souri Rajan, musician joining them. The text remains unchanged and the play takes place in France; since the artistes have been living and working in India for many years, they deliberately use references and movements borrowed from Indian classical dance so as to bring together the two cultures, French and Indian, which constitute their identity.

Over head-titles in English are projected to make the play understood by a larger audience.