With Beauséjour, from October 7 to 9 at the Cratère theater, the choreographer tenderly questions the collision between the vitality of hip-hop and the passing of time… The first will be the occasion of an evening event for the Cratère with a program of entertainment starting at 7 p.m. and ending late with a DJ set from Tajmahal!
This theme of old age goes against the vitality and virtuosity attached to Hip-Hop dance. When did the notion of the passing of time inform this choreographic project?
This has accelerated over the last two or three years. Indeed, my job leads me to a rather particular relationship with time. We have the impression that everything goes by very quickly, I have often said that. But there, things really accelerated as I approached my fifty years when I asked myself a certain number of questions. This changing body, this dance carried by a youth which, today, continues to be carried but by older bodies. The question then was: How do I include it in my shows? Share it with the public? What will I continue to tell with this dance? How can we continue to create with this energy, this dance from hip-hop with older bodies?
ML – Julie Cherki
Your choice is then to make up your face, to transform your dancers rather than calling on older artists. Why this bias?
There are two things. I could have worked and integrated elderly people but, for logistical reasons, it was complicated. I hope that one day I will have the opportunity to imagine a show with elderly people. “Beauséjour” is in a way a first step which will lead me to work differently. Then the fact of transforming the dancers is there to give a form of lightness, of shift. To take a humorous approach, a bit cartoonish if you like… Then, what encouraged me in the process of this project was the feedback from people of a certain age who said to me: “When we see a show like this, we want to take responsibility, to dance, to move.” Old age is the path of each of us but how can we have a different approach to a body that is no longer that of 20 years old. And how with this body to share the poetic, the light, the sensitive… “Beauséjour” emanates from all of this and there is a form of simplicity which brings us back to a look with tenderness.
“Monday will be our night and it will be a crazy night. Come!”
“Finding myself dancing with 16 artists from the Käfig company I find that quite exciting. Monday will be our evening and it will be a crazy evening. Come!” While the show is scheduled from October 7 to 9, it is from Monday, echoing the first edition of the “Alès agglo scene des mondes” week, that Olivier Lataste, director of the Cratère theater, is firing off the show. On the program: at 7 p.m., launch of the week and opening, at the theater, of the exhibition by the students of the Jean-Moulin college (in the presence of Mourad). 7:30 p.m.: Pre-show by All’Style in the crater hall (free). 8:30 p.m.: Beauséjour by Mourad Merzouki and finally at the end of the DJ set show in the hall by Dj Tajmahal (free).
Charlie Chaplin is one of the inspiring characters in your artistic quest. Do we find any trace of his influence here?
Yes, definitely. What I admire about this artist’s work is that there is already something timeless about it. And he’s a jack of all trades. There are no borders in his musical, choreographic, thematic approach. All of this influences my work because I am keen to work on this transversality of disciplines. And then also to reach the widest possible audience. This is what we find in Chaplin’s films. It is aimed at everyone. It is truly a source of inspiration.
The transversality of the disciplines that you mention is nourished by the fact that you did not go to the conservatory but grew up in contact with multiple worlds: circus, hip-hop or even martial arts?
Today, I see this as an asset, an opportunity. It hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure. But if I had to do it again, I would refer him. Because it led me to have this approach of autodidact, of curiosity and then of freedom too… It was not always easy but it is also the country in which I grew up with this way of being able to pass I made this aesthetic approach an asset. In the end, having no ties to a conservatory or a school, hip-hop had to write itself, invent itself. We were in front of a blank page which led me to try to create links to build myself and design something unique to my image and to the image of our country in a certain way.
At 50, I still have the feeling that this culture encourages me to bring beauty and positivity, to invent and create links between generations.
Does hip-hop still carry this instinct to denounce and produce meaning?
Yes. So then there are lots of ways to do it. In battles, there is always this spontaneity, this urgency and in the creations, the shows, there is an approach that is perhaps more artistic, more mature 30 to 40 years later. But there is always this societal approach, this desire to express oneself and create a bond with others. In any case, existing is the DNA of hip-hop, and this in a society that is not always easy. At 50, I still have the feeling that this culture encourages me to bring beauty and positivity, to invent and create links between generations.
This culture considered non-essential during covid, undergoing budget cuts, why does it need to be defended?
The place of culture is vital for a society. I can clearly see the benefits it brings for young people and the public in general. We share common emotions through culture. Despite our differences, in age, background, history… It brings people together, brings us together, allows us to think, to have a better understanding of our societies. We worry when we see the political and geopolitical situation, we ask ourselves a lot of questions about the future of culture. We hear that she would be on the front line in the event of a budget cut and that is not reassuring. While it is an investment for our societies. We artists must continue to fight and remember its importance. This is what I do for two reasons: one which concerns everyone and the other which concerns kids from working-class neighborhoods who don’t necessarily have immediate access to the world of culture. It’s a real challenge, a fight, a real issue that I experience every day in my work.
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