Skipping Sleep to Enjoy Art at La Nuit Blanche

Kevin Samuel

It was in 2002 that the then mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, decided that a day – a night rather – should be set aside to celebrate art and culture. It was named La Nuit Blanche (pronounced laa nwee blawnsh).

And who would have imagined that 20 years down the line La Nuit Blanche would come to Chennai! It did. In 2023.

But what does La Nuit Blanche mean? Well, it means sleepless night in French.

“Why sleepless you may ask. Do we have insomnia? Or do we need to be awake to guard, to protect or to do our jobs?” asks R Amarendran in a playful, theatrical fashion, the director of Theatre Arlequin that he is. “No, it is one night in a year when we are up all night to enjoy what Alliance Française of Madras offers to the public: a variety of programmes that start at 4 pm and continue till 3 am. It is an occasion to share a night with friends and family, have fun and enjoy the arts.”

This year, 19 October was the sleepless night in Chennai, with Alliance Francaise of Madras (AFM), which has been promoting Indo-French culture and French language since 1953. Cultural activities went on from the evening of 19 October, till the wee hours of the following day.

It’s celebrated not only in Chennai, but in cities across India and the world. French-speaking cities like Winnipeg and Montreal in Canada, and other cities like Brussels, Melbourne and Los Angeles promote La Nuit Blanche in a big way.

This year, La Nuit Blanche in Chennai promoted local arts that varied from tribal music to North Chennai’s very own gaana.

The tribal music was presented by the Irulas of Chengelpet, led by Rani. “We were excited to be a part of this all-night celebration. My troupe and I have been collecting and documenting our traditional songs that depict our way of life. We have added some verses to some of the songs,” she says.

When Venkatesan of Rani’s troupe spoke about their practising and documenting music, the pride they take in their art form was visible in the eyes on every member.

They began their performance with an invocation to their Goddess Kanniyamma. Jil Jil, well she did stomp around so that her anklets would make a loud noise, and her partner led their performance as a story, weaving each song into a sequence of narratives. If the song was about cultivating their traditional rice variety, the duo led the audience into the song by discussing about ‘their land in Nungambakkam’ (where AFM is located) and their desire to eat rice. It was a song-and-dance performance, with a couple dancing to each song. It was especially interesting to watch them prance like deer, looking for those elusive squirrels in treetops and hunting them with catapults, dance like peacocks and casting their nets to catch fish. The songs with a quick beat had the audience and some of the gaana singers join the dancing couple.

The parallel events were designed to offer seven different experiences through seven distinct atmospheres, namely, mindful gallery, the grand stage, community sanctuary, unwind & recharge, fun & food, folk fest and glam. There were also workshops as part of the event.

There were games like the French pétanque, food stalls with pizzas, pasta, momo, fried chicken and other tongue-tickling fare. There were plays by different theatre groups, dance shows, an inclusive fashion parade, open mic, shadow puppetry, traditional koothu, Bharatanatyam, etc.

There were photo booths where one could take pictures behind cut-outs of traditional French costumes in a passageway decorated to the style of The Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.

Madras Busking, a collective founded by Nirosha and Sairam, turned tête-à-tête into poetry live on a typewriter as you spoke to them.

Thisram, a contemporary Chennai-based fusion band was a big hit with the audience, especially the dual between percussionist Aditya and beatboxer Akshara. Yes, we do have women beat boxers.

“I didn’t know we could have good music with just drums,” said a visitor, after seeing the performance of Drum Circle, where more than 20 drummers sat in a circle and made music with rhythmic beats.

A young Sreedevi was delighted to meet popular woman gaana singer Isaivani. Gaana being what it is, especially with popular singers like Dharani, Isaivani and Apellow, had the audience, young and the old alike, on their feet and dancing.

Theatre Arlequin presented Sweet + Sour, five short original English plays, comedies actually, written by Amarendran. “Theatre Arlequin has been associated with Alliance Française from the 90s and so it was with great gusto we did a one-hour show,” says Amarendran.

“Being part of a momentous cultural scene in Chennai was soul satisfying to every member of Theatre Arlequin. We look forward to La Nuit Blanche 2025. The night belongs to us,” he signs off.

(Kevin Samuel teaches French and is a member of Theatre Arlequin.)

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