Nathalie Gauthard is Full-Time Professor in Performing Arts at the University of Artois and President of the French Society of Ethnoscenology - SOFETH (accredited NGO for ICH by UNESCO). After training in Literature at Paris 7 and Theatre Studies at Paris 3, she turned to and specialized in ethnoscenology with a PhD under the supervision of Jean-Marie Pradier at Paris 8. Her research then focused on analysis of the composition, recomposition and innovation processes of Tibetan danced rituals, 'cham, intended for an outside view within the exiled Tibetan communities (Nepal, India).
After a double qualification in Ethnology-Anthropology and Performing Arts, she continued her research on the analysis of UNESCO heritage processes and its effects on the Gesar of Ling epic (PRC, Tibet). In addition to her specialization in Asian scenic and performative practices, she also studies aesthetics and carnival practices. She completed her “Habilitation à diriger des recherches” ( "Ability to conduct research") entitled “For an anthropology of performing arts. Aesthetic, social and political dynamics in the performing Arts” at the Sorbonne in 2014.
She is now continuing her research on the circulation, transmission of knowledge, heritage processes and identity claims at work in scenic and performative practices. The author of numerous articles and scientific publications, she was recently elected Publication Director of the journal L’Ethnographie. Création, Pratiques, Public (MSH-PN-USR3258).
After a double qualification in Ethnology-Anthropology and Performing Arts, she continued her research on the analysis of UNESCO heritage processes and its effects on the Gesar of Ling epic (PRC, Tibet). In addition to her specialization in Asian scenic and performative practices, she also studies aesthetics and carnival practices. She completed her “Habilitation à diriger des recherches” ( "Ability to conduct research") entitled “For an anthropology of performing arts. Aesthetic, social and political dynamics in the performing Arts” at the Sorbonne in 2014.
She is now continuing her research on the circulation, transmission of knowledge, heritage processes and identity claims at work in scenic and performative practices. The author of numerous articles and scientific publications, she was recently elected Publication Director of the journal L’Ethnographie. Création, Pratiques, Public (MSH-PN-USR3258).
Current Projects
Artistic communities, Creation, Ecology and Somatic practices
Comparative and cross-cultural perspectives
This project is part of a larger reflection on ecology, the relationship with living things, and what some call the Anthropocene. Building on the work of anthropologist Philippe Descola (2005, 2015), this project questions the nature / culture dualism, the foundation of 19th century anthropology (anthropology then being understood as a discipline formalizing this notion of culture), a Western perspective that is not shared by all human societies, especially those whose "culture" is determined exclusively by environmental factors and consider the non-human (plant, animal, mineral, object, etc.) as social partners. This particular relationship with the environment is also illustrated in the performing arts at different levels (speech, practices, expertise). The purpose of this research will therefore be to contribute to the current debate on environmental issues through the study of the discourses, practices and expertise of artistic communities, and their discourses and creative processes in connection with the environment.
This project on “artistic communities, creations, ecologies and somatic practices” intersects research in the human sciences (anthropology and ethnology), continuing the current debate on the anthropology of nature (Descola, 2005, 2015), the anthropology of the contemporary (Marc Augé, 2013), the question of sensory perception (François Laplantine, 2018), and reflections in the performing arts around artistic communities (Marie-Christine Autant-Mathieu 2013), ecosomatics (Marie Bardet, Joanne Clavel and Isabelle Ginot, 2019), and literary and theatrical ecocriticism (Julie Sermon 2018, Flore Garcin-Marou, 2017).
The goal will be to identify the "schemes of practice" understood as "psychic, sensorimotor and emotional dispositions, internalized thanks to the experience acquired in a given social environment" (Descola, Par-delà nature et culture, Paris, Gallimard, coll. Folio Essai, p. 190). These "schemes", according to Descola, account for the way in which human societies organize their relationship to the world. She will first conduct research in Taiwan on the company U-Theater: withdrawn in the Taiwanese hills, the U-Theater troupe observes an ascetic lifestyle where the practice of meditation, martial arts, dance, theater and percussion is combined, under the joint direction of the choreographer-dancer and master martial arts Huang Chih-Chun and the artistic director formed by the Polish director Jerzy Grotowski, Liu Ruo-Yu. Their conception of creation is to merge "culture of the mind" with artistic performance. In Taiwan, the troupe embodies the revival of Taiwanese aesthetic forms (with multiple identities including Indigenous) and the expression of contemporary aesthetic dynamics while carrying a social and ecological discourse. In this year 2020, they launched a new program called “Dance with you - Art, learn life, and build nature". It will include conferences, discussions, exchanges with artists and members of the troupe on the subject of nature, reconstruction (physical and psychological); ecological workshops (for example, water purification, composting, etc.) and ecological reconstruction of their rehearsal site in the mountains (which caught fire the summer of 2019).
This project on “artistic communities, creations, ecologies and somatic practices” intersects research in the human sciences (anthropology and ethnology), continuing the current debate on the anthropology of nature (Descola, 2005, 2015), the anthropology of the contemporary (Marc Augé, 2013), the question of sensory perception (François Laplantine, 2018), and reflections in the performing arts around artistic communities (Marie-Christine Autant-Mathieu 2013), ecosomatics (Marie Bardet, Joanne Clavel and Isabelle Ginot, 2019), and literary and theatrical ecocriticism (Julie Sermon 2018, Flore Garcin-Marou, 2017).
The goal will be to identify the "schemes of practice" understood as "psychic, sensorimotor and emotional dispositions, internalized thanks to the experience acquired in a given social environment" (Descola, Par-delà nature et culture, Paris, Gallimard, coll. Folio Essai, p. 190). These "schemes", according to Descola, account for the way in which human societies organize their relationship to the world. She will first conduct research in Taiwan on the company U-Theater: withdrawn in the Taiwanese hills, the U-Theater troupe observes an ascetic lifestyle where the practice of meditation, martial arts, dance, theater and percussion is combined, under the joint direction of the choreographer-dancer and master martial arts Huang Chih-Chun and the artistic director formed by the Polish director Jerzy Grotowski, Liu Ruo-Yu. Their conception of creation is to merge "culture of the mind" with artistic performance. In Taiwan, the troupe embodies the revival of Taiwanese aesthetic forms (with multiple identities including Indigenous) and the expression of contemporary aesthetic dynamics while carrying a social and ecological discourse. In this year 2020, they launched a new program called “Dance with you - Art, learn life, and build nature". It will include conferences, discussions, exchanges with artists and members of the troupe on the subject of nature, reconstruction (physical and psychological); ecological workshops (for example, water purification, composting, etc.) and ecological reconstruction of their rehearsal site in the mountains (which caught fire the summer of 2019).
All images of U Theatre © U Theatre
Nathalie's first phase in the field in April 2020 will be to meet them and exchange ideas about their vision of what “sustainable development” or at least a respectful relationship with the environment would be. During this fieldwork, she will investigate the strictly Taiwanese concepts of artistic creation in relation to the environment. This study will complement an article that she has already published on this company by focusing on the relationships it weaves with its environment, both social (discourse and know-how of Indigenous peoples and identity claims), and environmental (relation to ecology, to the environment).
Publications are planned with Routledge and Palgrave, as well as international meetings, research results, transdisciplinary workshops and research-creation, in particular with Indigenous theater companies from Canada's First Nations. This project will lead to the development of an Open Research Area partnership between the University of British Columbia, Canada, the University of Exeter, UK, the University of Artois, France, and Waseda University, Japan.
Note: Phase one of Nathalie's research is currently on hold due to COVID-19.
Related Publications
Nathalie Gauthard. "Back to basics by a detour in the West: Jerzy Grotowski and the U-Theater in Taïwan", L'ethnographie , 1 | 2019, posted on September 02, 2019, consulted October 06, 2020.
Nathalie Gauthard. "Back to basics by a detour in the West: Jerzy Grotowski and the U-Theater in Taïwan", L'ethnographie , 1 | 2019, posted on September 02, 2019, consulted October 06, 2020.
Tibetan spirituality, arts and exchange with the West
Seeds of memory / Mandala - A poetic, spiritual and musical journey
The musicians of Kyab Yul-Sa invite you to move beyond boundaries, initiating you to a conjured dialogue at the crossroads of Tibetan, Scandinavian and India and the Middle East melodies. Lobsang Chonzor is a Tibetan singer, dancer and multi-instrumentalist. France is where he met Margaux Liénard, who introduced him to the sounds of the traditional Irish, Scandinavian and French violin that she had carefully gleaned from her own travels. Together, they crossed paths with percussionist Julien Lahaye, who studied with the great masters in India and the Middle East; the delicate art of the zarb was among the treasures he brought back. At the meeting point of their journeys, the three of them have forged a new musical language and are now charting a distinctive path, from the Himalayas to the flanks of the fjords and the shores of the Caspian Sea. Kyab in Tibetan means ‘exile’ and Yul-Sa ‘the land’, Kyab Yul-Sa would thus translate as ‘Lands of exile’ with the will to explore the instrumental, musical and melodic possibilities of traditional Tibetan music in interaction with other instruments.
At the request of the Kyab Yul-Sa group and the Tibetan artist Lobsang Chonzor, Nathalie Gauthard is writing a libretto and directing the staging of a show featuring Tibetan spirituality from its origins to exile. This new show invites us on a journey through several sound, poetic and visual universes. The journey originates in Tibet, far away and spiritual. The show is thought to be an echo between the individual destiny of a Tibetan artist and the history of his people, his ancestral way of life, his traditions and then his openness to the world. We embark for the Tibetan highlands, with songs of Kham and Amdo, those Tibetan regions where people live in harmony with the elements of nature considered as deities, a pastoral and nomadic society. The Tibetans of the mountains and valleys, dream of a pilgrimage to Potala for blessings. The prayer mills turn to the sound of the Mani the mantra with six syllables that spreads peace and compassion. An ancestral way of life celebrated by the songs of the repertoire performed by Lobsang Chonzor that honours the elements of nature, spirituality, the free and communal way of life of nomads. The journey continues with the odyssey of the Tibetan in exile crossing the mountains with snow-covered passes, far from their homelands. The songs of exile evoke the nostalgia of the family, the unalterable faith, the landscapes and the joy of past days. Joy returns to the cultures of the world in a spirit of exchange and transmission.
Nathalie will communicate about the process, the rehearsal, and her collaboration with Lobsang Chonzor and his vision on spirituality on stage.
The musicians of Kyab Yul-Sa invite you to move beyond boundaries, initiating you to a conjured dialogue at the crossroads of Tibetan, Scandinavian and India and the Middle East melodies. Lobsang Chonzor is a Tibetan singer, dancer and multi-instrumentalist. France is where he met Margaux Liénard, who introduced him to the sounds of the traditional Irish, Scandinavian and French violin that she had carefully gleaned from her own travels. Together, they crossed paths with percussionist Julien Lahaye, who studied with the great masters in India and the Middle East; the delicate art of the zarb was among the treasures he brought back. At the meeting point of their journeys, the three of them have forged a new musical language and are now charting a distinctive path, from the Himalayas to the flanks of the fjords and the shores of the Caspian Sea. Kyab in Tibetan means ‘exile’ and Yul-Sa ‘the land’, Kyab Yul-Sa would thus translate as ‘Lands of exile’ with the will to explore the instrumental, musical and melodic possibilities of traditional Tibetan music in interaction with other instruments.
At the request of the Kyab Yul-Sa group and the Tibetan artist Lobsang Chonzor, Nathalie Gauthard is writing a libretto and directing the staging of a show featuring Tibetan spirituality from its origins to exile. This new show invites us on a journey through several sound, poetic and visual universes. The journey originates in Tibet, far away and spiritual. The show is thought to be an echo between the individual destiny of a Tibetan artist and the history of his people, his ancestral way of life, his traditions and then his openness to the world. We embark for the Tibetan highlands, with songs of Kham and Amdo, those Tibetan regions where people live in harmony with the elements of nature considered as deities, a pastoral and nomadic society. The Tibetans of the mountains and valleys, dream of a pilgrimage to Potala for blessings. The prayer mills turn to the sound of the Mani the mantra with six syllables that spreads peace and compassion. An ancestral way of life celebrated by the songs of the repertoire performed by Lobsang Chonzor that honours the elements of nature, spirituality, the free and communal way of life of nomads. The journey continues with the odyssey of the Tibetan in exile crossing the mountains with snow-covered passes, far from their homelands. The songs of exile evoke the nostalgia of the family, the unalterable faith, the landscapes and the joy of past days. Joy returns to the cultures of the world in a spirit of exchange and transmission.
Nathalie will communicate about the process, the rehearsal, and her collaboration with Lobsang Chonzor and his vision on spirituality on stage.
Festival Orientalys, Kyab Yul-Sa - September 14, 2020
Related Publications
Nathalie Gauthard, "Les graines de l’exil tibétain : du parcours intime au destin collectif", Cahiers d’ethnomusicologie, 32 | 2019, 197-213.
Nathalie Gauthard, "Les graines de l’exil tibétain : du parcours intime au destin collectif", Cahiers d’ethnomusicologie, 32 | 2019, 197-213.