Thirty years of partnership, 25 years with the same company… “Les Héros Exhausted” are they even more, tired then? Oh no! The secret? Eternal change.
For a long time the actor was presented as a solitary. In contemplating his art, this one is the priority, the artist or the painter, the writer and the writer hardly develops a married life without forgetting the urgency of his art.
Nevertheless, intimacy is often in the heart of all creatures. How does the couple’s life inspire creation, what are the issues during creation? Is there competition or imitation? Jealousy or resentment? Confrontations or concessions? How do we share tasks when it’s a question of sharing them? Lots of questions we asked the couple artists who work at Valai. They told us about the couple’s position in their artistic practice. It’s also a way to get into their creative principle. For in summary, with all of them, art and the couple are closely intertwined.
In the chaos there are “Dream”, “Tiempos”, “The strange journey of Mr. Victor” “Watch out for the wolf!” “Pezzetino” for children, “Carcan”, a burlesque-inspired show, “Modus operandi” “Dehors avant la porte”, a show for adults and “Rivages” from adolescence. Phew! “Les Héros Fourbus” has been creating puppet movies over the fourth half of a century. We asked them the reason for their longevity, the creation and the history of their relationship. For both parts of their lives, closely intertwined, a word, love and, as a driving force, change. We took the lines of their 25 year company.
As an introduction, any sentimental or professional relationship, over time, needs a dynamic. “We have to find our actions. For me, moving forward in the creative process while being in seeing others with everything it takes, the fact of living together and experiencing personal things takes a lot. changes “, according to Danièle Chevrolet,
“In joint work there are always concessions to be made in the way it works, aesthetics …” continues José-Manuel Ruiz. “These changes are what everyone is doing, all the time, in their lives. Between the private and the professional, the pragmatic and the emotional. And even yourself.
“We always agree on different stages of our evolution”
In the field of art, maybe more. All creativity is determined by choices: “at some point you have to decide what to do. Depending on our expertise, there are areas where José-Manuel will lead and others where I will. Inevitably these areas will interpenetrate. It can be more tense sometimes, you have to know how to let go or not. This creative approach has advantages: “Doubts don’t have to come at the same time as one or another. It turned out to be a force. If one has a little faith, energy or hesitation, one can be a driving force ”, they say in the chorus.
Diversity and collaboration
A concordance can be found in their answers, one connecting with the other, constantly checking that each has their place: “What is beautiful with Danièle is that in one word, in one we are heading towards the same direction, not necessarily in the same direction. ” A long road that requires, as we have seen, changes but also evolution. ”We came out of a show we did for a young audience and Danièle said to me:“ it’s moaning “. I immediately understood what he meant. The show after we did a big turn, it was the first show without text. Danièle agrees: “We have always surprisingly and miraculously agreed on different stages of our evolution.”
New evolution
“Now, where we are in the history of the couple, at least for me, it is the return of the self. To feel apart from the” creative couple “entity”, Danièle testifies. “I want to ask myself: and if I’m alone how can I act, what choice will I make?” This is what José-Manuel agrees: “There is for me, not the idea of finding myself because I have not lost myself, but it is true that both, there are things you want to achieve and that maybe drowned. ”
“We are always strangely and miraculously compatible at different stages of our evolution.”
So, after thirty years of experience, are the Heroes still tired? “They are, but in a different way,” Danièle concluded. “When we created this company, I was at a time in my life where I was thinking about how to keep the faith, how to keep the desire, the momentum. We’re in a bit of a weakness. ”So the name, because there’s a heroic side to it starting, to dare this career choice.“ Now “tired” shouldn’t be understood as Nicolas heard it. Bouvier, a happy fatigue on the road traveled.We can look at what we have done and tell ourselves that we have already done what we want, which brings us joy and allows us not to “settle” something… “We’ll Say Peaceful Heroes” José-Manuel Ruiz completes.
Danièle Chevrolet and José-Manuel Ruiz have three adult children. It was complicated for them at one time because they were in a different social context from their other peers ”, says the mater familias.“ They feel isolated, and each child reacts differently. The eldest, for example, has a great need for unity; he lives it more in conflict mode, the second than being proud of what we do. Now we have positive feedback from our children. They tell us that “despite the financial difficulties , in time management, you fulfill your desire. This is the best example you can give us in life. ”
Not to forget that the couple’s children are at the base of the creators of the “young audience” films. “Without them, I wouldn’t have gone to the puppet theater. We told them a lot of stories, and that allowed me to leave the intellectual side that was in the theater to explore this part of childhood. It permeates all of our work even in adult creatures. A space of the soul that keeps this child dynamic, curious, imaginative.
Pragmatic José-Manuel explains: “They don’t participate as creative people, but they become interlocutors because we talk about work at home. It happens so many times that a comment or a question from kids, like any conversation with someone else, opens doors for you and shows you paths.
This article can be read for free in our magazine “Culture” from May 21 by clicking here.