Performers: Elias Ardoin, Sami Blond, Mathieu Bord, Maxime Cozic, Loïc Elice, Justin Gouin, Nicolas Grosclaude
Lighting Design: Fabrice Sarcy
Costumes and Scenography: Camille Vallat
Music: Roman Bastion
Photos: Charlotte Audureau
Video: Floriane Pinard
Tour Producer: Petya Hristova
Tour Manager: Mathieu Morelle
Technical Director on Tour: Romain Perrillat-Collomb
Production: Massala Dance Company
Coproduction: Théâtre Jean Vilar - Vitry-sur-Seine; Le Prisme – Élancourt;Institut du Monde Arabe – Tourcoing;Fontenay-en-Scènes - Fontenay-sous-bois;Théâtre des Bergeries - Noisy-le-Sec;La Briqueterie - CDC du Val-de-Marne;Le FLOW - Pôle Culture Ville de Lille;ADAMI;Institut Français de Marrakech
Residencies:La Briqueterie - CDC du Val-de-Marne; POC d’Alfortville;Centre National de la Danse; Le FLOW – Pôle Culture Ville de Lille; Studios Diptyk - St-Etienne;Cirque Shems’y - Salé, Morocco
Financial Support:Conseil départemental du Val-de-Marne ; Région Ile-de-France; ARCADI; DRAC Ile-de-France; SPEDIDAM; Institut Français
First there is rhythm, the sounds of immemorial time, unceasing and obsessive. From this rhythm is born the communion of seven dancers, a fusion of energies and bodies, the power of the community with its inherent violence and weaknesses.
On the border between the sacred and the profane, between frenetic modernity and ancestral rituals, Näss dares to challenge contradictory physical states and affirms the fusion between the popular and urban aspects of hip-hop. It questions its proper roots tracing their evolution until today. Sources of inspiration are the regional dances of Morocco taskiwine and regadda, as well as the mysticism of the Gnawa tradition.
“The history of the famous band Nass el Ghiwane from the 1970s in North Africa has been of key inspiration to me. Their lyrics reminded me of the strange connection with the anti-establishment current of rap and hip-hop from the same period in the United States. I discovered a type of hip-hop that is more spiritual, impregnated with ancestral traditions.” – Fouad Boussouf
Näss reveals a universal dimension, the eternal quest of men and women for someplace else, spiritual or physical, using as language the rhythm, that which unites and moves the bodies. Fouad Boussouf stands behind a kind of hip-hop that is strongly anchored in its tribal African roots.
“I composed Näss like a breath, simultaneously physical and mystical, which reminds us how important it is to be firmly rooted in the ground and in one’s land in order to feel its vibrations.” - Fouad Boussouf
