During the coming Les Hivernales Festival, organized by the CDCN of Avignon, two new creations of NaïF Production will have their première. I have been working with the company since the creation of La Mécanique des Ombres (2016) and I am excited to join them again for both new works as an outside eye.
Des gestes blancs is the result of a long research and development trajectory of Sylvain Bouillet with his son Charlie, investigating the relation between the adult’s and the child’s body and mind. They will perform on March 2nd and 3rd.
Hope to see you there and share our work with you!
Nothing cozier than spending the dark winter nights together indoors. On January 27th and 28th, De Grote Post and Theater aan Zee organise the Chambres d’O living room festival in Ostend (BE). The city’s cultural centre and summer festival join their forces to realize this heart-warming festival in which music, theater, dance, literature and visual arts are shown in the intimacy of a living room. Prepare yourself for a unique experience, in cozy private homes in various places in the city. During unexpected encounters with (fellow) city dwellers on the sofa, artists surprise you on a few mere square meters.
Dancers / choreographers Lisi Estaras and Serge Aimé Coulibaly, musician / composer Mirko Banovic and dramaturge Sara Vanderieck are inspired by Goliarda Sapienza`s novel The art of Joy. The grand and sensual history of a woman who has only one goal in life: to be free.
Sexual desire, the growth into adulthood, social and political engagement flow through this ingenious novel and form the base for a subtle quadrangular relationship that fans out to and with the audience. The different story layers are executed in an original playlist of separate tableaux. The playlist of each performance depends on the artists, the audience and the specific setting of the living room.
When I look at a Strawberry … an intimate seduction dance between movement and music.
Tonight Bára Sigfúsdóttir‘s being will be performed in De Grote Post in Ostend. The cultural centre’s media team interviewed dancers Masoumeh Jalalieh and SeyedAlireza Mirmohammadi about their experiences during the creation:
On September 23rd and 28th we presented the result of the first month of creation of When I look at a Strawberry, I think of a Tongue in Ostend and Avignon. We had the chance to perform on three specific locations: the gallery Beausite (programmed by De Grote Post), the Art Centre KAAP by Ostend’s seaside with it’s beautiful view and the welcoming Théâtre des Doms next to Avignon’s Palais des Papes. Those three performances sold out quickly and proved to be a wonderful and precious experience.
For those amongst you who could not be present, we have made a small teaser to share a glimpse of the Strawberry experience.
Enjoy & don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with us!
The belgian newspaper De Morgen sent a critic to Bára Sigfúsdóttir‘s being‘s first night last Thursday in Campo Nieuwpoort. Jan Dertaelen gave *** to the performance and reads it as a piece about meeting the other.
“In the following hour, the two dancers will slowly gain an eye for each other, grow towards the other and try to relate to each other. What we see is a meeting, and what we learn is that every meeting occurs according to its own laws and rules.”
Belgian magazine Knack‘s critic Els Van Steenberghe also rates the performance with three stars.
“…looking at the struggling dancers whose movements give them alternately something human and something animalistic, you think about how your movements may reflect your personality.”
In 2017 Bára Sigfúsdóttir creates her new performance called being in which she collaborates with two Iranian artists, Masoumeh Jalalieh and SeyedAlireza Mirmohammadi.
In this performance the body serves as a poetic instrument and common ground to put in dialogue the West-European with the Iranian culture and society.
After residencies in Brussels and Neerpelt (without Alireza because of visa issues), Potstdam, Groningen, Tehran and Istanbul we are finalizing the creation in Ghent from Monday on.
If you’re curious to learn a bit more about the journey of this creation, check out the blog with contributions of the whole cast and crew here.
The premiere of being will take place at CAMPO (Ghent, BE) on 26th and 27th of October 2017. being is Bára’s first creation within her trajectory of performing arts resident at Kunstencentrum Vooruit in Ghent.
Further performance dates of being can be found in the calendar.
This summer Serge Aimé Coulibaly’s Kalakuta Republik has been presented in Europe’s major summer festivals and not in the least: Le Festival d’Avignon. To get selected for Avignon’s prestigious “IN” Festival is a great honour. To enjoy the audience’s standing ovations, an enthusiastic press and multiple interesting exchanges about the work has been a strong and amazing experience for the entire cast and crew.
For those amongst you who haven’t joined us at the summer festivals, here are some impressions through the eyes of others (a simple click on the quote brings you to the article):
“The result is a non-stop succession of movements, each new, for more than an hour, in a thrillingly inventive act of choreographic rebellion. The second part of Coulibaly’s show demolishes the clichés of the wild party and confirms his talent. In this one work, while remaining true to himself, the choreographer has crystallised years of research” – Le Monde
“Serge Aimé Coulibaly is one of the leading lights of contemporary dance on the African continent today and his presence at this 71th edition was, quite simply, a must.” – Vaucluse Matin, Edition Avignon et Carpentras
“Kalakuta Republik offers dance that is absolutely distinctive, far removed from clichés of African dance and far removed, also, from Western canons.” – Tout Lyon Affiches
“Thunderous applause. Kalakuta Republik cannot be described: it has to be experienced. The dancers’ performances are breathtaking: their bodies speak, laugh, shout, weep, and corrupt each other. We decode their words and their misfortunes, and admire the endurance and strength they display throughout an hour and three-quarters. All are endowed with a certain charisma that brings a great personality and life to the performance; the casting, it must be said, is admirable. A sustained, deafening outburst of applause broke out at the conclusion of Kalakuta Republik, which was undoubtedly one of the great choreographic successes of this edition of the Festival d’Avignon.” – Boite à culture.com
“Dance won, borrowing from all repertories, just as Fela did (jazz, yoruba rhythms, funk…), revealing every individual in the company […] and what is of interest here, is this broken dance which never ceases to rise up again from a background of profound nostalgia.” – Délibéré, Marie-Christine Vernay,
“Urgent anchored in the earth, the dance is rushed, searching, carried throughout by remarkable performers. Kalakuta Republik is a strong, complete work that awakens our hearts and our consciences.” – Danser Canal Historique,Agnès Izrine
“ In his criticism of contemporary Africa, Coulibaly tirelessly asks one question – what role should or can play an artist in today’s charged world? His choreography, his dance, his personal presence on stage is Coulibaly’s response to this question.” – Yana Meerzon
Yesterday “le pôle national Culture des Ceméa” invited the artists for a dialogue with Kalakuta Republik‘s audience at Avignon’s festival.
From left to right you can discover choreographer Serge Aimé Coulibaly, dancer Marion Alzieu, dramaturge Sara Vanderieck, dancer/assistant choreographer Sayouba Sigué, dancer Antonia Naouelle and dancer Ahmed Soura.
During this morning’s press conference, Arnaud Laporte interviewed Serge Aimé Coulibaly about Kalakuta Republik and what it means to be part of the Avignon Festival 2017.
