Rachid Ouramdane Contre-nature

Following society-oriented shows (Loin, Des Témoins ordinaires, Sfumato, Franchir la nuit) based on intimacy (TORDRE, Corps extrêmes, Outsider) and shows conceived for monumental settings (Möbius Morphosis with Compagnie XY, which performs in July 2024 at the Panthéon), Rachid Ouramdane intends to return to the study of movement in a piece that mixes close contact and off-the-ground dancing.

In this new work, the choreographer aims to highlight what drives our representations of movement, in a continued effort to explore aerial gestures. Alongside him are 10 performers of the Compagnie de Chaillot with various styles and techniques. “It takes people with somewhat diverse backgrounds, people equally comfortable in the air and on the ground. We need all these ways of dancing, moving and jumping forward, and share all of that,” explains the choreographer.

To that end, a motley group of 10 performers with subtle movement styles will gather to combine and intertwine their languages and spawn a new one at the intersection of aerial performance and dance. On a bare stage, now delineated by lighting now showing projected images in a mist, Rachid Ouramdane conjures childhood and aging. Through elements evocative of passing time and absence, he imagines “how we keep going, influenced by other people that are not around anymore, these ghosts that live with us.”