Matière(s) première(s) and [Superstrat[, choreographer Anne Nguyen discusses the relationship between traditional and urban dance. Drawing on the history of urban social dances of Afro-American origin, known as 'hip-hop' dances, and of African urban dances, known as 'Afro' dances, Anne discusses how dance reflects the relationships between the people who make up the territories where it is practiced. Dance anchors an identity in time and space, offers a common grammar and sets the rhythms of life. It arises from a social need for self and collective assertion, and rebirths as soon as a micro-generation breaks away from its predecessor. From traditional rural communities to individuals inside modern cosmopolitan societies, urban social dances arise from successive processes of creolization between different fragments of cultures held captive in constricted urban spaces. Anne Nguyen explores the relationships between traditional and urban dances, the processes at play and the way population displacements towards metropolitan areas, modernity, and intention, influence dance.
This talk is echoing the themes and dances explored in choreographer Anne Nguyen’s shows Matière(s) première(s) and [Superstrat[, presented at the festival.
Please note the start time for this event has been changed to 15.00.
Dancer, choreographer, author and theatre director Anne Nguyen founded the par Terre Dance Company in 2005. She has created about twenty shows, several interactive installations and short films. She also wrote a collection of poems and several articles on dance.
Coming from the world of breakdance battles and influenced by scientific studies, she draws from the observation of gestures, danced as well as ordinary, individual as well as collective, to turn urban dances and popular cultures into a support for a reflection on tradition, on social markers, on diversity, on cultural appropriation and on the tensions between multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism.
Venue | Black Box Theatre
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