SZENE
Salzburg

With Nacera Belaza one of the most exciting contemporary choreographers makes her first guest
appearance at Sommerszene. Having grown up in two cultures – she was born in Algeria and has lived in France since she was a small child – she operates in the margins of consciousness, searching for elements that connect different spheres. Her stage pieces are intense, precise, radically contemporary and both spiritual and meditative.

For her production L’Onde she has immersed herself in the world of audiovisual archives and drawn inspiration from recordings of traditional North African dances and rituals. The result is a hypnotic piece for four dancers, including the artist herself, that relates traditional movement material to her concept of infinity. Supported by a pulsating soundtrack blending traditional and modern elements to the point where they become indistinguishable, the dancers explore the endlessness of space, time and emptiness. A few clearly defined gestures are enough to exercise a compelling power that enables the audience to be part of a living dialogue between North African and European culture, spirituality and images, movement and imagination.
 
Nacera Belaza was born in Algeria and moved to France with her family at the age of five. After studying Modern Literature at the University of Reims, she taught herself to dance, founding her first company in 1989. In addition to her artistic practice in France, Belaza permanently moves back and forth between continents to pursue a range of projects in North Africa, for example setting up an artists’ co-operative in Algeria.

 
Choreography, sound and light conception: Nacera Belaza
Performers: Nacera Belaza, Paulin Banc, Magdalena Hylak, Mohammed Ech Charquaouy
Technical management : Christophe Renaud
Production : Compagnie Nacera Belaza
Partners : Kunstenfestivaldesarts / Charleroi danse, centre chorégraphique de Wallonie - Bruxelles; Festival de Marseille; deSingel, Campus International des Arts; MC93 Bobigny; LUMA Foundation; ICI—Centre chorégraphique national Montpellier - Occitanie / Direction Christian Rizzo, as part of the creative and
research residency programme; L’Arsenal- Cité musicale-Metz; Atelier de Paris / CDCN
The company is supported by the LUMA - Arles foundation residency programme, as well as by the Ile-de-France Region in the framework of the Aide à la creation programme.
Also supported by the SACD in the framework of the duo programme; Institut français - Ville de Paris, SPEDIDAM.

• cie-nacerabelaza.com/en/