He is a bit of an orchestra conductor, except that his musicians are machinists. This weekend, Yves Rollot, will be the eyes and ears of Long Ma, the dragon horse – who is actually a dragon mare – who will take his first steps this weekend on the Piste des Géants, in Toulouse. . For two days, the newcomer will have to thwart the traps set by the Spider, under the eyes of Asterion, the Minotaur who woke up in the Pink City four years ago.
On the eve of this new show concocted by François Delarozière for the Machine Hall, Yves Rollot still has his hands dirty. Because before taking his wand as “maneuver director”, he still regulates the fine details of this great colossus of 45 tons which had to be reassembled piece by piece before its new wandering. Because to be the tamer of this fire-breathing mastodon, you have to know it from A to Z. No training exists for this rare profession, but versatility is an asset.
Patience “and good shoes”
A quality which is also that of the twelve machinists installed on the machine on Saturday and Sunday to whom he will be permanently connected. He will guide them step by step, gesture by gesture, until the blink of an eye. “My role is to give life to all the articulated elements of the machine, to coordinate the mechanical movements so that it becomes organic, so that the horse-dragon has expressions, feelings”, explains the one who has a doctorate in robotics. .
At the head of a well-established team, he will have to remain focused for 1h30, six times, on the lookout for the slightest noise to know if the cylinders are working well, but also for the public surrounding the mare-dragonne.
Because despite its considerable weight, Long Ma has the advantage of being able to come into contact with the spectators by stooping down, more easily than the Spider or the Minotaur. “It’s a very fast machine, which can change attitude quickly, from aggressive to gentle. We feel that the public adheres quite quickly. Long Ma can run up to 7 km/h and during some shows that we have already done, the public would recognize the music that gave the starting signal and start running too”, recalls the one who cut his teeth on the Great Elephant of Nantes.
Once again, he will arm himself with patience and “good shoes” to walk to the sound of music and take visitors to the Halle into an ever more magical world.