In Point Zéro, Amala Dianor works again with Johanna Faye and Mathias Rassin, well-known dancers and friends he knows from the street dance world. Working with music by Awir Léon, they create a trio which shares the experience of their artistic journeys and each artist’s aesthetics, in order to (re)discover the founding values of hip hop, and to see how and if it is possible to use them to create, transmit and dance together. Creator’s note “It is sometimes difficult to know where we are going, but we do know where we come from. Dance, street dance, hip hop and contemporary dance are our DNA. We have fully experienced these differing vocabularies which have redefined us as artists, each and every time.
Point Zéro is above all, an invitation to dance -- with two of my friends, both well-known dancers. It is about experiencing together the journey each of us have taken, through the various aesthetics which are the landmarks of that journey. Johanna, Mathias and I all began doing street dance, then each of us chose our own paths, as it were, filled with personal encounters, sharing, a hybridization of ideas. Point Zero is literally the central, chosen place from which all distances are calculated. What is the road we have traveled on during all these years of research? In France our point zero is the plaza in front of the great Cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris, in a city which is also one of the centers of hip hop culture. Coincidentally, there was a terrible fire at Notre Dame this year, creating a wave of emotion and sadness.
What remains of our cathedral of urban dancers, of our original chapels? Are they still intact after so many years? Are we still able to go back there, to draw from this place to create, transmit, move together? For Mathias the answer is a firm ‘yes’ – he never gave up his signature dance, a fusion of street dance and hip hop. There is however the question of the aging of the body, which affects somewhat the physical intensity of his dance vocabulary. With Johanna, I am interested in exploring not only finding a balance between the multiple techniques which coalesce in her dancing, but also the space where the brute tonicity of Mathias meets the fluidity and flow which I have worked with for so many years.
Point Zéro is also an opportunity to begin addressing the power relationship: is otherness also a subtle game of power? How can we remain authentic? What am I willing to give up? What relationship can be built if we are trying to create it together while remaining faithful to our individualism?”
No upcoming representation.
Amala Dianor is associated artist to Touka Danses, CDCN Guyane, France (2021-2024) and Théâtre de Macon, France (2021-24) ; Les Quinconces - l’Espale, scène nationale le Mans, France (2021-2024).
Cie Amala Dianor / Kaplan, sustained by French State - DRAC Pays de la Loire, Pays de la Loire Region, Town of Angers. Since 2020, it is receiving the support of BNP Paribas Foundation.
