Camping is moving

After organizing Camping in Lyon in 2025, why did you choose Bordeaux for the 2026 edition? What is at stake when organizing such an event there? 

Catherine Tsekenis — The Centre national de la danse is currently a nomadic institution, and we wanted to go to regions that are big activity hubs and where the CN D isn’t present enough in terms of partnerships and the like. In Bordeaux, there is a lot going on choreographically speaking. Things have been really happening there for the past ten years. We wanted to reach out to the dance community in Bordeaux. There was also a third parameter which was important to us: we wanted to work with institutions we share obvious affinities with, such as tnba – Théâtre national Bordeaux Aquitaine and La Manufacture CDCN Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux La Rochelle. And Fanny has long been linked to the CN D, as she was associate artist with us. 

Fanny de Chaillé — I actually taught workshops in Camping, but I also participated in a lot of workshops I didn’t teach! The question of having affinities is central for me. Our three projects are connected with the question of transversal modes of composition: I arrived at the tnba two years ago with a project based on the idea that when people work together, they work better. I started working with La Manufacture right off the bat. When Catherine and Stephan came to me, it felt natural. But even if things are happening here in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the region has been a bit left out of the decentralization process. I have worked with the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region for a long time and I can see that it’s different here, that there hasn’t been the same kind of cultural policies implemented in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Now that cultural policies are being revised, we no longer have the same means, nor the same kind of alliances available with tutoring structures, such collaborations and moments when we can share projects are ways of reinventing the models available to us. 

Stephan Lauret — The region has indeed been left out for a long time and there’s a lot of work to be done. I’m grateful to Fanny for coming here, and to Catherine and Camping for offering this special occasion. It requires a lot of energy, a lot of willpower, to organize events here, and to bring operators together. Our amenities, venues and institutions are all over the place and our budget keeps shrinking. We could say it’s the same everywhere, but as we had a really long way to go from the start, we feel it more acutely here. We’re trying to build partnerships, with the CDCN, the CDN and others, but it’s an ongoing process and we’re nowhere near close to being done. 

The CN D has had to delocalize its activities because of remodeling and renovation work, and so did La Manufacture. Beyond new potential partnerships such as this one, what is at stake when a structure like this is forced to operate outside of its usual location? 

SL — Beyond working with new teams and meeting new audiences, operating outside our usual location shakes everything up. We share new artistic experiences, as Fanny just said. We put aside our “repertoire” and move toward something else. We need to dig into our own resources to adapt. There are downsides too, because this requires a crazy amount of energy: we need to plan ahead and anticipate everything even more than usual. We always need to consider the practical side of things before even thinking about what the project would be like, and sometimes even though we want to do certain things, the material conditions simply won’t allow us to carry out projects. And we don’t have the same amount of autonomy: there’s no room for improvising. 

CT — For Camping, it’s been a gradual process because last year, in Lyon, it wasn’t really outside our institutional locations, since there is a CN D in Lyon. Working in another location is a form of displacement. It’s not about coming somewhere and saying oh, you have spaces to work in, let’s go. Our teams move locations to work with other teams – they work together. The CN D is a center for dance and it is in our DNA to work within the dance world. The CN D was created to work with other institutions: because our teams are organized and know their job, they can work anywhere. 

FdC — The CN D team is a well-oiled machine! There are so many students and so many members of staff that we have to be really prepared. We’ve had to find additional venues. Even if the tnba has a big auditorium and two medium-sized ones, as well as a school with three studios, it wasn’t enough! 

How would you describe the CN D’s expertise? 

FdC — They have a highly functional protocol which works because it has been tried and tested for ten years, and this same protocol now has to be adapted. We need X studios for X amount of students… it’s very pragmatic. Thankfully the CN D comes with pre-designed templates because Camping is such a huge endeavor! The strength of this project is its crazy side which I love. You can’t find anything like this in day-to-day life. But it is possible to do it. It’s a kind of utopia to say that students from all over the world will come here to work together – with their different techniques and specialties – whether they’re dancers, actors, visual artists… So let’s go! And that is what is really powerful and impactful about this project and the CN D. I feel that with Stephan, we’ve adapted well to the CN D’s protocol. 

SL — We did, and we were delighted to do it. The CN D allowed us to step out of our comfort zone with such a major event which comes with a guarantee of success. It’s reassuring. Camping could have been the type of project we would have dreamt of doing without ever daring to. It’s joyful, it’s an event built around a common goal, which is bringing various people from the dance world together and introducing new audiences. 

How did you curate the program? 

SL — Our main guideline was to listen to each other, bearing in mind questions like the maturity of the participants, maintaining balance in terms of emerging propositions and relevance. Then we compiled a program which will resonate for our young participants. 

FdC — We also took into account the diversity of backgrounds and practices. 

CT — Yes, Camping is multidisciplinary. We wanted to work with artists who are relevant now with current projects, but also with seasoned professionals who have a longstanding reputation. We are sometimes surprised to hear that younger generations don’t know Xavier Le Roy, because they haven’t had a chance to see his work. 

FdC — It’s great to form connections with local artists and audiences and to have Camping elsewhere than in Paris! We’re very lucky. 

SL — Geographically speaking, we built the program around the tnba to facilitate people’s commute from one venue to another, and because having more people in one place creates a festive vibe. We hope that these young dancers will titillate the city. 

FdC — Having 23 dance schools in the city is bound to shake things up!

Interview led by Charlotte Imbault