|
|
THE REASON OF BEING,
Bartabas - Artistic and teaching director
|
|
|
|
|
THE REASON OF BEING of the Academy obviously is and remains work with the
horses for Haute École riding, where lightness, ease and expression seem to leave the
door open ajar for an endless search. The artistic confrontation of various diciplines
certainly is what stands this Academy apart, and contributes to developing the aesthetic
sensitivity and horsemanship of the equerries.
The Academy aims at being a place of work and training, akin in a sense to the
notion of fellows of the craft: highly professionnal and totally atypical, this is in a way
a “school-company”. Still young and already very mature, its pace is that of a man
and a horse that learn from each other. This search must remain an adventure.
Training is not something one is passively subjected to. It can and must be developed
with everyone’s commitment. This is even more true for performing arts. The only
teaching philosophy that is keen to my heart is that there is no discontinuity between
learning and applying what one has learnt. I think that for an artist, this forms the
basis and the profound meaning of his existence, and daily life. I totally reject the
notion of examinations and diplomas. The horse itself sanctions our work, and the
public in the end remains the best judge.
There is a majority of women at the Academy today, like in the rest of the equestrian
world. Listening, intuition, perseverance, the love of workmanship and care for
detail are perhaps essentially feminine qualities. It is true there is a certain softness
to the daily atmosphere at the Academy.
Our cream coloured coat Lusitanian horses are in a way the ambassadors of our
Academy. I like their feminine touch, their natural grace and their Baroque beauty.
There is in all a form of consistency that I am not fully responsible for. It is a
state of things I observe, but then, I commit to it
|
|
|
