A moment of reconnection with Earth

«AU PREMIER REGARD» is a 30-minute participatory performance that activates the 5 senses. Participants are
welcomed with a tea with blue algae, then accompanied by the sound of a drum that imitates the sound of the
surf on the beach and an olfactory device activating the olfactory memory to embark on a poetic journey. With
this performance the artist offers a moment of reconnection with the Earth.

Maud Louvrier Clerc leads a group of 4 to 8 people. Its objective is to provoke in the participants a cognitive shock
called «overhang effect». Initially experienced by astronauts, this shock occurs during an observation of the Earth
from Earth orbit and is characterized by an awareness of its singular beauty.

The setting: In an empty space, the artist installs in its center, the carpet «Au premier regard». She places in a
circle around the mat, yoga cushions and on one of them, poses an «ocean drum bass» which she will play during
the performance. The artist finally lets diffuse an organic essential oil.

The 5 elements of performance: Blue-green tea is the 1st element. It connects everyone to the same liquid and
thus harmonizes the cellular vibrations of the group. The carpet «At first glance» is the second element, which
represents the Earth seen from the sky, summons the view and touch. The first visual contact puts us, like an
astronaut discovering it from an orbital station, facing a blue planet, both beautiful and tiny in the immensity of
the universe. A second physical contact, which will be made by touch, gives us access to its softness and structural
complexity. Then comes the third contact, immaterial, that of a spiritual connection with the Earth. Yoga cushions,
3rd element, are related to touch and vital breath. Participants will be invited to sit there and take them in their
hands. They are used to facilitate meditation. They provide comfort and ensure a good postural alignment allowing
the fluidity of breathing. Their handling during the performance will embody how each human being has in his
hands a part of the destiny of the Earth. This impact of humanity on our planet is called the Anthropocene. The
«ocean drum bass» drum, the 4th element, produces vibrations thanks to fine metal balls that imitate the sound
of the surf of the sea on a beach. This sound played by the artist aims to calm the mind and connect the group to
the origins of life. Essential oils or solid fragrances, 5th element, allow to renew an original link with nature. Inhaling
it activates our memory that shapes our personal and collective history, because it influences our perception of
the world.

Sequence 1/ Maud Louvrier Clerc welcomes participants barefoot at the entrance and invites them to take off
their shoes. Then she invites them to position themselves with her, standing around the carpet whose inspiration
and symbolism she presents. The artist invites them to breathe 3 times and then to come «walk with her on Earth»
paying attention to the variations of the relief, letting them imagine that they correspond to a change of
landscapes, and in the same way to the variations of colors allowing them to operate associations: blue for the 
sea, green for the forest, yellow for the land or the desert. During this walk, the artist invites participants to a silent
reflection to answer a question: what is the impact of my footprint on the Earth? It then turns a solid perfume to
rub on the wrist or diffuses an essential oil, which accompanies the cognitive change.

Sequence 2/ The artist invites participants to get out of the mat to sit on a yoga cushion. It invites them to take it
in hand once on it and to feel how they are stakeholders of the world that supports them, to try to physically
apprehend the Anthropocene with their body whose weight rests on a blue sphere. Then the artist returns to the
breath and makes them aware of their breathing. She then poetically verbalizes how life was born on Earth in the
heart of the ocean and how the water circulating in us constitutes a part of it. Then she thanks the blue planet for
the biodiversity it hosts. The artist invites participants to reflect on their own reasons for loving the Earth. To
accompany them in their silent reflection, she begins a sound with the «ocean drum bass». Little by little, the artist
leads the audience into an experience that combines the appeasement and gratitude of living in such a beautiful
planet where life is abundant.

Sequence 3/ Each participant. e is invited. e, in turn, to return to the mat to be symbolically in contact with the
Earth, and aloud he will say his name, explain why he loves the planet and thank it. The 3 benefits of gratitude are
better mental, physical health and better interrelational relationships. After this first round of Earth-gratitude, a
time of silence is left for the absorption of the spoken words. The artist then launches a tour of Earth-vibration
around 2 questions: what vibrated in me when I said why I loved the Earth aloud? What resonated in me when I
listened to others? At the end of the testimonies, Maud Louvrier Clerc leaves again a time of silence then closes
the performance with a last sound of the drum and a deep breath.

This performance can be performed as part of festivals, solo or collective show or within companies. In the latter,
the artist initiates a dynamic among employees for the implementation of the next sustainable development
actions endorsed by their management.