You need Flash player 8+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.

Aaléef

TAOUFIQ IZEDDIOU

A dance of rage and hope that questions what is possible in the aftermath of the Arab spring. The unique signature of a pioneer of contemporary dance in Morocco.

Details

A contemporary dance pioneer in Morocco, Taoufiq Izeddiou is making his North American début with a work that knocks aside any semblance of dance conformism. Driven by the rage of bodies and minds too long condemned to silence, he fights like the devil in the backlight of a triple row of spotlights aimed toward the back of the stage. We see a faceless man grappling with invisible enemies, an anonymous silhouette thirsting for light and space. He uses his fists, his hips, his feet, his voice. Caught in the entrails of his own story, he desperately seeks an exit. Soon he will glare straight into the sun with the fiery spirit and insolence of those who have nothing to lose.

Riding the wave of the Arab spring, Aaléef updates traditions and questions what is possible on the threshold of a new freedom. Taoufiq Izeddiou proclaims a fully assumed, strong and original dance identity.

Credits

PRODUCED BY COMPAGNIE ANANIA
CHOREOGRAPHED AND PERFORMED BY TAOUFIQ IZEDDIOU
LIVE MUSIC MAÂLEM ADIL AMIMI
SOUND DESIGN GUY RAYNAUD
LIGHTING DESIGN TAOUFIQ IZEDDIOU

COPRODUCTION SERVICE DE COOPÉRATION ET D’ACTION CULTURELLE DE L’AMBASSADE DE FRANCE (RABAT) + INSTITUT FRANÇAIS (PARIS) + CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA DANSE (PANTIN) + CENTRE CHORÉGRAPHIQUE NATIONAL DE TOURS + CENTRE CHORÉGRAPHIQUE NATIONAL DE CAEN + SCÈNE NATIONALE DE BONLIEU (ANNECY) + MISSION DÉPARTEMENTALE DE LA CULTURE DE L’AVEYRON + MJC RODEZ
WITH THE SUPPORT OF OFFICINA ET KELEMENIS & CIE (MARSEILLE)

PRESENTED WITH THE SUPPORT OF INSTITUT FRANÇAIS (AFRIQUE ET CARAÏBES EN CRÉATION)

WRITTEN BY FABIENNE CABADO
TRANSLATED BY NEIL KROETSCH

PREMIERED AT FESTIVAL DANSE D’AILLEURS, CAEN, 31 MARS 2011

TAOUFIQ IZEDDIOU (MARRAKECH)
ANANIA

Transcending Traditions

It was in his home town of Marrakech that Taoufiq Izeddiou discovered a passion for contemporary dance after some classes in ballet and modern jazz dance. During training that he describes as brutal, he worked with master choreographers such as Joseph Nadj, Daniel Larrieu, Héla Fattoumi and Éric Lamoureux. His encounter with the French-Guyanese-Vietnamese artist Bernardo Montet, director of the Centre Chorégraphique National in Tours, opened the way to his professional career in 1997, and for eight years they pursued a questioning of origins and identity.

Full biography