CONCEPT, DIRECTION & CHOREOGRAPHY:
Amala Dianor
PERFORMERS:
Slate Hemedi Dindangila, Romain Franco, Jordan John Hope, Enock Kalubi Kadima, Mwendwa Marchand, Kgotsofalang Joseph Mavundla, Sangram Mukhopadhyay, Tatiana Gueria, Nade, Yanis Ramet, Germain Zambi, Asia Zonta
MUSIC:
Awir Leon
PRODUCTION:
Mélanie Roger and Lucie Jeannenot
PRODUCER:
Kaplan | Cie Amala Dianor, sustained by the French State - DRAC Pays de la Loire; Pays de la Loire Region, and the City of Angers.
Cie Amala Dianor also receives support from Institut français and ONDA.
The company has been supported by the BNP Paribas Foundation since 2020.
COPRODUCTION:
Festival de Danse Cannes - Côte d’Azur France; Théâtre de la Ville - Paris; Le Théâtre, Scène nationale de Mâcon; Les Quinconces et l’Espal, Scène nationale Le Mans; Touka Danses CDCN Guyane; MC2: Grenoble; Théâtre Sénart, Scène nationale; Le Volcan, Scène nationale du Havre; Équinoxe, Scène nationale de Châteauroux; Julidans - Amsterdam, Netherlands; Maison de la Danse, Lyon; Le Grand R, Scène nationale La Roche-sur-Yon; Scène nationale d’Albi - Tarn; CNDC Angers
CREATIVE PARTNERS:
Fondation BNP Paribas sheltered by Fondation de France; City of Angers; Région Pays de la Loire; French State - DRAC.
Some tours are supported by ONDA.
RESEARCH RESIDENCY:
Villa Albertine, USA, 2023, in partnership with Théâtre de la Ville - Paris
WORKSHOP AUDITION:
Ménagerie de Verre, Paris
PREMIERE:
18–19 October 2023, CODA Festival – Oslo, Norway
DURATION:
35 minutes + 2-hour DJ set
Amala Dianor loves nothing more than mixing styles and, above all, people. The art of the French-Senegalese choreographer always crosses borders, he seeks out the ideas of other peoples, other dances, other forms. The born hip-hopper glides virtuously from one language to another, conquers new movements, draws inspiration from the foreign and replaces strict rules with a tense curiosity. This happens both in the female duo M&M, where the emotional depth of contemporary style meets the intoxicating energy of dancehall from Jamaica, and in Level Up, where Dianor brings together eleven young virtuosos of clubbing from all over the world to form an ensemble of brilliant energy. The journey through the latest street dance variations from India, Korea, South Africa, France or the USA becomes a danced utopia of a new world, where breakdance is the answer to an arm movement from the Indian Kathak, where something new is constantly being created by passing on, absorbing and developing. Krump, Waacking, Pantsula, Voguing, Electro Dance or Coupé Decalé flow into this cheerful melting pot, where grace and vigour, refined rhythms and raw energy unite in the exuberant joy of dance. Electro-soul composer Awir Leon, the choreographer's constant accomplice, weaves driving rhythms into a warm, dreamlike texture - when he can no longer be contained behind his instruments, he joins the stage, which becomes a place of total freedom and reveals the power of dance to change people.
WARNING: The music in this piece may be perceived as loud.
Amala Dianor
A self-taught hip hop dancer, Amala Dianor attended the Centre National de Danse Contemporaine d'Angers, graduating in 2002. For ten years, he worked as a performer, drawing inspiration from a wide range of techniques. In 2012, he founded his own company after winning two prizes at the 2011 Reconnaissance competition for his first choreography, Crossroad.
The choreographer is quickly identified for the singularity of his elegant and organic writing, which is part of a formal research on movement, at the crossroads of styles. Sliding from one grammar to another with virtuosity, he strips choreographic techniques of their spectacular dimensions to preserve only raw movement. Attracted by the encounter and dialogue between beings, he deploys a dance-fusion that hybridizes forms and opens up a poetics of otherness. Since 2014, he has been working with electro-soul composer Awir Leon, who creates the music for his shows. He also regularly works with musicians, visual artists, actors, writers and calligraphers...
In 2021, with visual artist Grégoire Korganow, he creates a collection of dance films, entitled CinéDanse, which already includes 6 short films that have been chosen in renowned selections. In 2022, he was one of 4 European choreographers selected by the Big Pulse Dance Alliance network. The same year, he presented the Siguifin cooperation project in Europe, aimed at highlighting the creativity of artists based in West Africa, and signed a piece for the South African urban group Via Katlehong, which had its French Premiere at the Avignon Festival. In 2023, the choreographer created a filmed dance concert, Love You, Drink Water, and DUB, a large-scale work for 11 dancers from all over the world with live music, in association with composer Awir Léon and visual artist Grégoire Korganow.
Today, his company has 21 pieces and 6 short films in its repertoire, and presents an average of 90 dates a year in France and around the world, with the support of prestigious institutions. A prolific artist, he likes to inscribe his research in perennial territories and pass it on.
In 2019, he was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres medal, and in 2024, Officer