Scientific Committee
- Christelle Bahier-Porte (University of Saint-Étienne)
- Jan Clarke (Durham University)
- Ioanna Galleron (University of Sorbonne Nouvelle)
- Hubert Hazebroucq (Cie Les Corps Éloquents, Schola Cantorum of Bâle)
- Judith le Blanc (University of Rouen-Normandie)
- Barbara Nestola (CESR - CMBV)
- Louis-Gilles Pairault (Comédie-Française)
- Martial Poirson (University of Paris 8)
- Bertrand Porot (University of Reims)
- Jeffrey Ravel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- Françoise Rubellin (University of Nantes)
- Herbert Schneider (Universität des Saarlandes)
- Guy Spielmann (Georgetown University)
To mark the tercentenary of the death of Dancourt, a leading figure of the Comédie-Française at the turn of the 18th century, a symposium-festival combining academic presentations, readings, workshops and theatrical performances will be held in Paris and Versailles, in partnership with the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles.
Florent Carton Dancourt, actor and author of the nascent Comédie-Française, was one of the major architects of the comic revival at the end of Louis XIV's reign. Three centuries after his death, this symposium-festival offers a revisiting of an unjustly neglected body of work, comprising sixty plays that combine social satire, music, dance and metatheatrical games. Rather than a posthumous rehabilitation, the aim is to examine the dynamics of theatrical life at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, the tensions between innovation and tradition, popular entertainment and institutional demands. Through academic presentations, readings, workshops, and stage performances, researchers and artists will explore Dancourt's place in the history of comedy, collective creative practices, and the editorial, economic, and political issues surrounding his theatre. Rethinking Dancourt also means questioning the mechanisms of visibility in literary history and re-examining the vitality of a repertoire that is still capable of moving, entertaining and making sense today.
