Grand Bellevue

La Fausse Compagnie’s first encounter with Grand Bellevue dates back to 2020, when the Théâtre Onyx invited VibratO to open its season. One of the performances will be a tour of the neighbourhood.

In 2021, the City of Saint-Herblain has invited the company to become an associate artist for 3 years, with a mandate to encourage artistic encounters with local residents.

The project takes the form of immersions by the artists of the Fausse Compagnie, lasting 2 or 3 days a month, with occasional performances and various events to be invented along the way, culminating in a Campement Stroh.

In 2023, the city of Saint-Herblain decided to postpone the end of the residency, and therefore the Campement, until 2025. The City of Nantes then became involved in the project, opening it up to the whole of the Grand Bellevue district.

The guiding principle of this adventure, ‘From the intimate to the collective’, invites us to move from the private to the public space, from the human to the artistic, from the individual to the group.

It’s a way of forging links with the players and residents of Grand-Bellevue, to build human, cultural and social links.

The residency at Grand Bellevue is a fantastic opportunity to experiment with the two facets of the Fausse Compagnie: a long-term artistic presence built on its expertise in working in local areas (with the Culture Vivace project it has been running for over 15 years), while at the same time bringing out the collective dynamic of its artistic adventures.

Criss-crossing the district is one of the main activities of these immersions. Stroh instruments are catalysts of interest that quickly encourage local passers-by to engage in conversation and get to know each other.

The artists are also using recordings as a way of forging links, inviting people they meet to pass on an audio message using a tape recorder.

The message is then transmitted by the artists (in music) a few months later to the recipient. This small chain of encounters gives us the contacts of around fifty people who will then be invited to the sound bubbles, a sort of impromptu musical get-together where anyone can come and share a song, a text…

With the support of a large number of associations, the number of meetings and shared moments is growing. A number of strategic locations have become hangouts for the Fausse Compagnie (the Régie Océan’s L’assiette du jardin restaurant, Environnement Solidaire’s small urban farm, the Grand B socio-cultural centre hosting a large number of local players, the Maison des Arts, the Comptoir des Alouettes, Plan B, the Lisa Bresner media library, etc.).

Nearly 25 associations take part or invite La Fausse Compagnie to take part in these immersions. The district’s telephone and e-mail address book contains over 200 resident contacts.

Over the last two years, the time spent collecting songs from the neighbourhood has been intertwined with the creation of a small group of accomplices with whom a special relationship has been forged, with a view to sharing artistic material together, which is presented during the Campement Stroh.

Each immersion is punctuated by chance encounters and meetings, times for sharing and recording. The idea is always to question the sensitive, the intimate, and to create a message for the collective. In this way, residents share messages and memories that are then broadcast throughout the pavilions of the Fausse Compagnie.

Throughout the residency, and in parallel with the immersions, the Fausse Compagnie’s shows are programmed at various events organised by the towns of Nantes and Saint-Herblain (festival les Beaux Jours, la Saison Vagabonde, les Hivernales, la fête de printemps, etc.), enabling local residents to discover the company’s repertoire.

La Fausse Compagnie applies the philosophy of giving and receiving – one suitcase to give, the other to receive – to all its projects and creations. It was therefore logical that the Stroh camp should be built on this basis.

The Campement marks the launch of Les Échos, the sound sculptures created by Laurent Cadilhac. They are installed in various emblematic locations (Médiathèque Lisa Bresner, CSC le Grand B, le Comptoir des Alouettes…) of the long-term residency. They offer a sound journey rooted in the local area, as well as a trace of the artistic presence of the Fausse Compagnie.

The sound recordings gleaned from Grand Bellevue (neighbourhood atmosphere, market atmosphere, residents’ voices and songs), combined with arrangements by the musicians of the Fausse Compagnie, form the material that is transformed into poetic bubbles. These bubbles are accessible to the public, to curious ears thanks to Les Echos.

The grand finale of this adventure, the moment when the intimate expresses itself collectively, takes place from 10 to 14 June 2025, in the Clos Fleuri park in Saint Herblain (44). For five days of festivities, the collective of artists and technicians of the Fausse Cie (18 people in all) live to the rhythm of reunions with associations and local residents who have become accomplices.

The camp is open from 10 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m., so there’s a mix of living and artistic sharing.

All of La Fausse Compagnie’s creations are staged in a hybrid format, leaving plenty of room for new discoveries and unprecedented spaces, while at the same time giving a major role to local players.

A vocal event was organised with a number of vocal ensembles from the surrounding area; the CHAM groups from Collège Ernest Renan and Maison des Arts took over the Kiosque for public rehearsals and a performance; The Assiette du Jardin restaurant set up lunchtime tables in the Berber tent on the Stroh camp for 3 days, while the ALF 44 association set up in the evening to share a meal with its members; the Nurkid protect NGO shared its Berber songs and culture; the Système B, Gioco Cosi, FMR Crew and Tutti Quanti companies took over the Stroh camp to share their own universe.

The Campement Stroh culminates in a great neighbourhood party on Saturday 14 June, in close collaboration with the CSC du Grand B and the Onyx theatre, which are hosting the event.

Our accomplices were present on numerous occasions during the week, and it’s to them in particular that La Fausse Compagnie dedicates this Camp: Ahmid, Kato, Isabel, Hadda, Odile, Jojo, Loïs, Georges, Khadija, Touda, Amina, Christine, Marie, Stephane, Violette, Linda, Magali, Layla, Jean-Phi, Antoine, Marine, Anthony, Walter, Gaëlle, Séverine, Catherine…