Autothérapie is a choreographic form of self-inquiry, unfolding in a series of (therapy) sessions: a non-linear selection drawn from several years of artistic research and an ongoing exploration of how memory becomes somatically inscribed in the body. 

The structure of the piece is inspired by Haitian Spiralism – a poetic and political way of thinking that understands history not as a linear sequence but as a cyclical, spiral-shaped process. In this sense, the work traces a geography of memories, traumas, and cultural references that appear fragmentarily and extend across three continents: from the forced displacement of approximately 12 million African people across the Middle Passage of the transatlantic slave trade – particularly brutal in Haiti – to the Haitian Revolution, the Jim Crow laws of the American South, and into contemporary Europe. 

Note of intentions

“When I say Autothérapie, “Self-Therapy”, i’m not talking about healing myself alone. I mean diving into my own body as if it were an archive, marked, crossed through, inhabited by others. I’m not alone. I carry my dead, my loved ones, those I hold close, and those I couldn’t protect. The “auto”, the “self” is a shared self, shaped, fractured, and filled by others.” Mackenzy Bergile

Biography

MACKENZY BERGILE, born in Paris and based in Lorient, is a Franco- Haitian interdisciplinary artist, choreographer, pianist, poet, and researcher. Trained in both traditional Haitian dance, Afro-American and contemporary dance, classical music, and visual arts, he develops a body of work at the intersection of performance, theoretical research, and postcolonial critique. His works have been presented in museums, international festivals and venues, aswell as educational institutions. He has taken part in Saïdo Lehlouh’s EARTHBOUND (Kampnagel 2022) and TÉMOIN (Summer Festival 2024) as a dancer, musician, and composer. In parallel with his own artistic praxis, he collaborates with artists and choreographers such as Emmanuel Eggermont and Boris Charmatz. He co-founded “Galerie Mauricio Bergile’’, a venue in Lorient for multidisciplinary art as well as the Breton collective ‘’The Love Movement’’.