The Planet Decoufle and Abracadabra

The Planet DecoufleThis unusual documentary profiles dancer, choreographer and film-maker Philippe Decoufle. His ceremonial parades for the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville brought him international fame enabling his unusual works to conquer new territories and mainstream audiences. Featuring extracts from his shows, this documentary gives an appraisal of his work since 1985. Alongside television footage and archive film, Decoufle and his collaborators discuss his aesthetic, his work for John Paul Goude and the intense year-long build-up to the 1992 Olympic Games parades. Abracadabra! Hocus Pocus! Shazam! - Dancers are filmed from overhead. Movement is captured through infra-red sensors. Naked dancers are propelled from a pandora's box. Abracadabra is a play on multiple reflections within the imaginary universe of Philippe Decoufle. Decoufle's magical extravaganza and poetry with S+-bastien Libolt's spellbinding score is one of the most thrilling dance performances conceivable. In a coup de theótre, the letters of the front and end credits are formed from his dancers' bodies.