Choreography Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui 
Dance performance Les ballets C de la B
“A monstrous mechanism anchored in the most banal of our daily actions or our most intimate memories, Time is the central preoccupation here. Insignificant as it appears, this universal theme unifies the visions of each of the characters involved in this reflection. Whimsical, zany, poetic or political: all these approaches are rendered graceful by the music of Najib Cherradi. Song takes on many colours, delightful and improbable mixtures born of the meeting of different periods and cultures. Freed from its terrestrial weight, the body transcends itself and leaves the ground to meet the sky. An ascension which is as symbolic as it is magical to watch.”
Justin Morin

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s debut as a choreographer was in 1999 with Andrew Wale’s contemporary musical, Anonymous Society. Since  then he has made over 50 full-fledged choreographic pieces and picked  up a slew of awards, including two Olivier Awards, three Ballet Tanz  awards for best choreographer (2008, 2011, 2017) and the Kairos Prize  (2009) for his artistic vision and his quest for intercultural  dialogue. 

Cherkaoui’s initial pieces were made at les ballets C de la B – Rien de Rien (2000), Foi (2003) and Tempus Fugit (2004). He undertook parallel projects that both expanded and consolidated his artistic vision; d’avant (2002) with longstanding artistic partner Damien Jalet at Sasha Waltz & Guests company and zero degrees (2005)  with Akram Khan. He has worked with a variety of theatres, opera houses  and ballet companies. From 2004–2009 Cherkaoui was based in Antwerp as  artist in residence at Toneelhuis, which produced Myth (2007) and Origine (2008).

In 2008 Cherkaoui premiered Sutra at  Sadler’s Wells. This award-winning collaboration with artist Antony  Gormley and the Shaolin monks continues to tour the world to great  critical acclaim. After his first commissioned piece in North America, Orbo Novo (Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet) and a series of duets such as Faun (which premiered at Sadler’s Wells as part of In the Spirit of Diaghilev) and Dunas with  flamenco danseuse María Pagés (both 2009), he launched his own company  Eastman, resident at DE SINGEL International Arts Centre (Antwerp).

Spring 2010 saw him reunited with choreographer Damien Jalet and Antony Gormley to make Babel(words) which won an Olivier. That same year he created Rein, a duet featuring Guro Nagelhus Schia and Vebjørn Sundby, as well as Play, a duet with Kuchipudi danseuse Shantala Shivalingappa and Bound, a duet for Shanell Winlock and Gregory Maqoma as part of Southern Bound Comfort. In 2011 he created TeZukA and Labyrinth (for the Dutch National Ballet). In 2012 he created Puz/zle, gaining him a second Olivier. That year he also collaborated with Joe Wright on his film Anna Karenina, for which Cherkaoui helmed the choreography.

2013 saw the premiere of 4D and 生长genesis (Eastman), Boléro (co-created with Damien Jalet and Marina Abramović, for the Paris Opera Ballet), and m¡longa (Sadler’s Wells). He reunited with Joe Wright to co-direct A Season in the Congo at The Young Vic. In 2014, he created Noetic for the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Mercy (from Solo for Two) for Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, which they performed at the London Coliseum and he directed his first opera, Shell Shock, for La Monnaie, with music by Nicholas Lens and text by Nick Cave.

In 2015, Cherkaoui directed his first full-length theatre production Pluto  based on the award-winning manga series by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi  Nagasaki at Bunkamura in Tokyo, bringing the beloved manga character  Astro Boy to life on stage, and was movement director for Lyndsey  Turner's Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch at the Barbican Centre in London. He also made a trio Harbor Me commissioned by the L.A. Dance Project, and choreographed a new Firebird for Stuttgart Ballet. In the same year, Cherkaoui created a new production Fractus V for his company Eastman, in which he also performs.

Since 2015, Cherkaoui assumed the role of artistic director at the Royal Ballet Flanders, where he has created Fall (2015), Exhibition (2016) and Requiem  (2017). He combines this function with his title as artistic director  of Eastman and keeps creating new work along with the artistic entourage  of this company, for example Icon (2016) and Stoic (2018), completing his dance trilogy for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Session (2019) with Irish traditional dance-exponent Colin Dunne, Nomad (2019) and 3S (2020),  a suite of three solos for Kazutomi “Tsuki” Kozuki, Jean Michel  Sinisterra Munoz and Nicola Leahey commissioned by TorinoDanza Festival.  He directed the operas Les Indes galantes (2016) and Alceste (2019) for the Bayerische Staatsoper, Satyagraha (2017) for Theater Basel and Pelléas et Mélisande (2018) with Damien Jalet and Marina Abramović for Opera Vlaanderen. His most recent ballet commissions include Medusa (2019) with Natalia Osipova in the title role at The Royal Ballet in London, Exposure (2020) for the Paris Opera Ballet, and Laid in Earth (2020),  a piece for four dancers of English National Ballet. Between 2017 and  2021 he choreographed several feature films, including Lukas Dhont’s Girl and Marjane Satrapi’s Radioactive, but also the yet to be released Cyrano by Joe Wright and Rebel  by the Belgian-Moroccan directors duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.  In 2019, Cherkaoui made his Broadway debut as choreographer for the  Alanis Morissette musical Jagged Little Pill,  directed by Diane Paulus and with a book by Diablo Cody. For this  production, he was nominated for a Tony Award in the category Best  Choreography. He is the first Belgian choreographer to be nominated in  this category. 

Starting from the season 2022-2023, Sidi Larbi  Cherkaoui will direct the Ballet of the Grand Théâtre de Genève. He is  also an associate artist at Sadler’s Wells, London and Théâtre National  de Bretagne, Rennes.

Source: Eastman⎜Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

More information : east-man.be

Author, filmmaker and video artist Charles Picq (1952-2012) entered working life in the 70s through theatre and photography. A- fter resuming his studies (Maîtrise de Linguistique - Lyon ii, Maîtrise des sciences et Techniques de la Communication - grenoble iii), he then focused on video, first in the field of fine arts at the espace Lyonnais d'art Contemporain (ELAC) and with the group « Frigo », and then in dance.
   On creation of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon in 1980, he was asked to undertake a video documentation project that he has continued ever since. During the ‘80s, a decade marked in France by the explosion of contemporary dance and the development of video, he met numerous artists such as andy Degroat, Dominique Bagouet, Carolyn Carlson, régine Chopinot, susanne Linke, Joëlle Bouvier and regis Obadia, Michel Kelemenis. He worked in the creative field with installations and on-stage video, as well as in television with recorded shows, entertainment and documentaries.

His work with Dominique Bagouet (80-90) was a unique encounter. He documents his creativity, assisting with Le Crawl de Lucien and co-directing with his films Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux and 10 anges. in the 90s he became director of video development for the Maison de la Danse and worked, with the support of guy Darmet and his team, in the growing space of theatre video through several initiatives:
       - He founded a video library of dance films with free public access. This was a first for France. Continuing the video documentation of theatre performances, he organised their management and storage.
       - He promoted the creation of a video-bar and projection room, both dedicated to welcoming school pupils.
       - He started «présentations de saisons» in pictures.
       - He oversaw the DVD publication of Le tour du monde en 80 danses, a pocket video library produced by the Maison de la Danse for the educational sector.

       - He launched the series “scènes d'écran” for television and online. He undertook the video library's digital conversion and created Numeridanse.

His main documentaries are: enchaînement, Planète Bagouet, Montpellier le saut de l'ange, Carolyn Carlson, a woman of many faces, grand ecart, Mama africa, C'est pas facile, Lyon, le pas de deux d'une ville, Le Défilé, Un rêve de cirque.

He has also produced theatre films: Song, Vu d'ici (Carolyn Carlson), Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux, 10 anges, Necesito and So schnell, (Dominique Bagouet), Im bade wannen, Flut and Wandelung (Susanne Linke), Le Cabaret Latin (Karine Saporta), La danse du temps (Régine Chopinot), Nuit Blanche (Abou Lagraa), Le Témoin (Claude Brumachon), Corps est graphique (Käfig), Seule et WMD (Françoise et Dominique Dupuy), La Veillée des abysses (James Thiérrée), Agwa (Mourad Merzouki), Fuenteovejuna (Antonio Gades), Blue Lady revistied (Carolyn Carlson).

Source: Maison de la Danse de Lyon

Artistic Direction: Alain Platel

Creation: 1984

Les Ballets C de la B (Belgian Contemporary Ballet), formed by Alain Platel in 1984, is a company now regularly acclaimed in Begium and elsewhere. Over time it has adopted a working-platform structure which brings together several choreographers. Christine De Smedt and Koen Augustijnen figure alongside Alain Platel; Hans Van den Broeck and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui have also taken part. Since its inception, Les Ballets C de la B has been committed to involving talented young artists, active in different disciplines and from varied backgrounds, in the dynamic creative process. The company is currently host to two guest choreographers, Lisi Estaràs and Ted Stoffer. The unique mix of diverse artistic visions, which feed each other, makes it impossible to define the Ballets precisely. Nevertheless, a kind of “house style” is emerging. It is popular, anarchic, eclectic and engaged, under the motto “This dance is part of the world and the world belongs to everyone.”  

Source: Les ballets C de la B 's website

More information : lesballetscdela.be