Rien de Trop
or, moderation in all things
Book Nine XI

I can see no creature that behaves with moderation.
Little by little, my country is becoming a pasteboard landscape. Behind the forest, there will soon be no trees. It is no doubt for this reason that I was intrigued by the little-known fable of La Fontaine, Rien de Trop. To my mind, it is the author’s most « ecological » fable. It reminds me of the excessive manner people have of using the natural resources at their disposal. We find in this fable the animal world familiar to such tales, but the tone is harsher, the moral more biting.
The sheep, usually presented as vulnerable in other fables by La Fontaine, is here the culprit who devours the harvest. The wolf, though, maintains his usual thankless role; he devours an entire herd. The man then destroys the pack of wolves, only to find himself standing before a ravaged field where neither the harvest nor the animal world can survive in any form or equilibrium.
It is through a focus on spatial relationships that I am approaching the choreography of this fable. The space closes in more and more around the bodies of the performers ; where the speed of the movement becomes more complex, the animal world of La Fontaine can evolve. Two performers will share the roles. They are the expression of the excessive behavior reflected in the narrative structure of this tale. Their bodies draw their strength from the excess, thereby evoking both the euphoria brought on by this behavior and the disillusionment that follows.
Rien de trop also suggests a notion of pleasure; its offer is always generous. Yet this pleasure leaves a trace of disenchantment, that of a small society in search of itself, a society where the ignorant brush up against the wise.
Rien de trop is a subject of which we speak incessantly, and one we fail to observe.