A beautiful failure

A beautiful failure tells the story of how, in the summer of 200... , Gaëlle Bourges spent almost two months in Amherst, Massachusetts, in the north-east of the United States, and completely missed the house/museum of the American poet Emily Dickinson, who died in 1886, and whose work she loved so much. She was deeply disappointed when she returned to France, and it's this disappointment that provides the material for this short form - less than 20 minutes - spoken, sung and danced. A performance/tribute to what we miss, especially when what we miss was important.

With a poem by Emily Dickinson*, excerpts from the soundtrack of Bruno Dumont's Twentynine Palms, and a narrative mixed with a song or two about the "American ballad" - all oscillating between black jeep anxiety (quelled), an empty university campus, high-calorie ice creams and endemic idleness.

*Emily Dickinson's Lieux-dits, l'éternité, translated by Patrick Reumaux, is available from Editions Points.

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