• Producer(s):

    ARTE GEIE, TEMPS NOIR

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2013

  • Language(s):

    German, English, French

  • Rights:

    TV, DVD, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD

The Equestrian Arts Academy, a fascinating cradle of creation and learning founded by Bartabas in the Royal Stables of the Chateau de Versailles, is celebrating its 10th birthday. This beautiful film takes a look behind its scenes.

The squires at the Academy, mainly women, combine the learning of equestrian arts with other artistic disciplines such as singing, dancing, fencing and Japanese archery. The documentary portrays the daily lives of the academy’s extraordinary boarders, who have the privilege of riding along the estate’s deserted avenues at dawn, and of fine-tuning their art, by perfecting a human-animal relationship that matures over time.
 
The film features interviews with Bartabas, with senior instructor Laure Guillaume, and with many other borders, both novices and experienced riders, who provide an insight into the philosophy of the place - a “school of the senses”, where pupils learn by doing. “There’s no point in explaining things. People have to feel and experience them for themselves” explains Bartabas.
 
This film offers a unique opportunity to discover the poetically portrayed corps de ballet’s inner life, among the superb backdrop of the Chateau de Versailles.