From October 19 to 27, Gard becomes a land of urban culture with the third edition of Breaking Gard.
“We are dealing with a crazy international festival”jokes Ghislain Chassary, departmental councilor and president of the Méjannes-le-Clap sports center. Driven by the success of breaking dance at the Paris Olympic Games, the annual Breaking Gard competition is further enriched this year with a week of events in different locations in the department. The objective? Spread urban culture throughout the territory. “We are moving away from the image of breaking with the cap on backwards. Our strength is to bring this urban art to sometimes rural or remote territories and to mix audiences. Only with sport and the culture that we can do it”welcomes Ghislain Chassary.
From Saturday October 19 to Sunday October 27, the All’Style association and the Gard department are joining forces to offer a “international week for all” mixing dance courses of different levels and shows. From Nîmes to Méjannes-le-Clap, via Bessèges and the Pont du Gard, Alès is not left out since the week begins with an advanced level course led by the breaker, choreographer and associated artist of Cratère Saïdo Lehlouh, Saturday October 19 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The dancer will be on stage the same evening to present “Témoin”, his latest stage creation. A ballet with burning energy that mixes all the variations of hip-hop and carried by the “Black Sheep” company.
Workshops, demonstrations and battles
Jawad Frikah, the director of the organizing association All’Style, proudly highlights his collaboration with the national choreographic development center La Maison Danse, based in Uzès, as part of the Pop Up dance festival, dedicated to youth. “We are fortunate to welcome the Sons of Wind crew for three performances. They are young dancers whose main objective is transmission”explains Emilie Peluchon, the director. The “Bounce” show is expected at the Halle des Sports in Bessèges on Thursday October 24 at 7 p.m. and Friday October 25 at 3 p.m. And at 7 p.m. Saturday October 26 at the Pitot room, right bank of Pont du Gard.
The climax of the festival, the closing weekend includes workshops to discover urban cultures with demonstrations of 3×3 basketball, BMX, breaking, graffiti, skateboarding and Slackline (tightrope walking). But also, Sunday October 27, the long-awaited third edition of Breaking Gard with international battles and the participation of Yassif Ousseni, the Occitanie breaking champion. The male, female and child dancers from France, Japan, Belgium, Canada and Greece will be evaluated by an exceptional international jury. Notably DOM-K, the only French judge at the Paris Olympics battles.
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