Teatro Zandonai, Rovereto
Oüm
Fouad Boussouf | Le phare - CCN du Havre Normandie
National Premiere
Fouad Boussouf brings together contemporary hip hop expressions, the new circus and traditional North African dance. Difficult to pin a label on, at Rovereto the French-Moroccan choreographer will showcase the most recent part of his trilogy on the Arab World, in which once again he merges artistic styles, genres and disciplines. Indeed, music, dance, song and poetry intertwine in Oüm, an imaginary encounter between the famous contemporary Egyptian singer Oum Kalthoum and the 11th century Persian poet Omar Khayyam, to whom the choreographer pays an emotional tribute.
Oum Kalthoum's songs are the soundtrack of his childhood, her voice, her lyrics – from the most personal to the most violent – have accompanied Boussouf for as long as he can remember. Later on he discovered the Rubaiyat, the classical poem celebrating trance and the ecstasy of living in the present, by the Persian poet Omar Khayyam, whose verses the diva also sang.
On stage, six performers accompanied by live music interpret Boussouf's melting pot approach, presenting his and our landscapes, his and our origins. And in an atmosphere of contemporary confusion they invite us to stay in the here and now.
Overlapping ground dances and vertical lines of great finesse, chains of bodies and weight games, explosions of radical and almost violent movements. The dancers and musicians invite us to an enlightened trance. Transported by the forcefulness of a contemporary ritual, Oüm could become a cult piece.
Choreography Fouad Boussouf
Choreography assistant Sami Blond
With Nadim Bahsoun, Sami Blond, Mathieu Bord, Loïc Elice, Filipa Correia Lescuyer, Mwendwa Marchand
Music Mohanad Aljaramani (oud, percussion, voice), Lucien Zerrad (guitar, oud)
Sound Design Marion Castor and Lucien Zerrad
Dramaturgy Mona El Yafi
Scenography Raymond Sarti
Costume Design Anaïs Heureaux
Lighting Design Fabrice Sarcy
Production Compagnie Massala
Coproduction La Briqueterie – CDCN du Val-de-Marne, Le POC d’Alfortville, Institut Français de Meknès, CCN de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne / Cie Käfig, Pôle-Sud - CDCN de Strasbourg, Les Hivernales – CDCN d’Avignon, Fontenay-en-Scènes, Fontenay-sous-Bois, Hessisches Staatsballett - Tanzplattform Rhein Main, Théâtre Paul Eluard (TPE) à Bezons
Financial Support ADAMI, La Commanderie-Mission Danse de SQY, Conseil départemental du Val-de-Marne, DRAC, Région Ile-de-France SPEDIDAM Support La Briqueterie - CDCN du Val-de-Marne, CCN de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne / Cie Käfig, Centre National de la Danse (CND), Institut Français de Meknès, Hessisches Staatsballett, Allemagne, Les laboratoires d’Aubervilliers, Mophradat, Le POC d’Alfortville, Pôle-Sud, CDCN de Strasbourg
Duration 60 min