XXY [ɛks/ɛks/wʌɪ]

“I have dreamed that all these aspects of timeless, universal femininity will find a place in the tiniest corners of our retinas and ears, echoing the vibrant anima in each and every one of us.” Clotilde

Clotilde is a standout singer, flutist, composer, and lyricist who has already originated many projects across the jagged landscape of jazz, from standards to avant-garde. She grew up in a family of strong women, and XXY [ɛks/ɛks/wʌɪ] is the result of her reflections on the feminine. This ambitious project has been in gestation since 2014, a time when questions of gender were becoming omnipresent in the spheres of politics, society, and religion. Such a vast subject might appear terrifying to tackle, but Clotilde has been fearless, pursuing a holistic approach through multiple media, to provide an all-encompassing perspective.

XXY [ɛks/ɛks/wʌɪ] takes the form of seven portraits, involving seven films and seven original soundtracks, which combine to form a feminine archetype. Entitled Rhéa, Ruby, Juliette, Ishtar, Magda, Hannah, and Enk’aï, they embody in turn the child, the working woman, the mother, the artist, and the warrior woman, all heroines, both famous and anonymous.

Short texts by Maya Angelou, James Joyce, Gloria Steinem, and Paul Auster echo behind the androgynous bodies of the dancers (France, United States, China) seeking harmony between their masculine and their feminine halves, as they progress through landscapes stretching out in all their beauty, whether horizontally (Iceland) or vertically (the American city).

Combined with an immersive audiovisual installation, XXY [ɛks/ɛks/wʌɪ] draws the spectator into its creator’s psyche, switching between dreamlike fantasizing (a child-like woman scrambling down the dunes), personal questionings (motherhood, the feeling of love), and a deep-rooted conscience (the figures of Simone de Beauvoir and Angela Davis). Clotilde’s investment in this project, which is also a personal quest, is total. She has directed and edited the films and created the musical pieces in collaboration with well-known composers, while the dancers move to the sound of her polymorphous singing. The sum total of issues tackled, and the combined expressive forms, is dizzying.

XXY [ɛks/ɛks/wʌɪ] is a “Gesamtkunstwerk”, a “total work of art”, a stunning portrait of the feminine in seven facets. One suspects that it is also a self-portrait of Clotilde herself.

The screening for this film can be found in the short-film program Seahorses, Pussy-core and Queens.