DO YOU BE - Nawal Lagraa Aït Benalla (Teaser)

The training and choreography in contemporary dance project, ‘Les femmes sur le devant de la scène’, was born out of the desire to support seven female dancers, from Lyon and the surrounding area, whose previous paths were unusual and ridden with obstacles. The two months of training, prior to the choreography, based on teaching the fundamentals of contemporary dance and the development of a common language which brings together different dance worlds, was the point of departure for a collective story.

Do you be, the lovechild of this adventure, is composed of two distinct pieces: a solo by Nawal Lagraa and a piece for the seven dancers.

First piece: SOLO by Nawal Lagraa

“This solo retraces the wanderings of a woman whose life is unbalanced by the kinds of storms that all of us have had to weather. She is defenceless, with a wrenching loneliness like that after a catastrophe, an earthquake. The body begins to speak once again, in the place where the voice is no longer present. She rediscovers her traces, her supports, becomes accustomed to her vertigo once again, and gradually comes back to reality. Still, there is no calm or stability – doubt is still jeering at her. Then, in a furtive moment, everything falls into place, and doubts disappear, and everything is back in motion.”

Second piece for seven female dancers

“Within every woman there lives a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing. Inside each woman is a Wild Woman. But the Wild Woman, like wild nature, is a victim of civilisation. Society and culture hunt her and muzzle her to make her fit into the reductive mould of the roles assigned to her and to ensure she cannot hear the generous voice from deep inside her soul.”

– Clarissa Pinkola Estés

“Using the Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ concept of the Wild Woman, I wanted to put Woman’s strength and power into the limelight, into movement, through the bodies of eight women with different backgrounds  (hip-hop, jazz, oriental, etc.). At the heart of the creative process is the permanent dialogue between the ‘animus’, the masculine part of women linked to the virtues of action, affirmation and intelligence, and the so-called feminine virtues of inwardness, sensitivity and creativity. There is a desire to unpick certain clichés and avoid homogenising genres. Taking account of each woman’s uniqueness, we will talk about the ‘individuation’ process rather than that of individuality.”

Source : Nawal Lagraa – Aït Benalla

More information : www.aboulagraa.fr