Artists & Projects Directory
Voices of Strength: A Mini-festival of Contemporary Dance & Theater by Women from Africa
Quartiers Libres
Nadia Beugré (Côte d'Ivoire)
Are there spaces where we
may not go? Places we do not have the right to explore? And if we cross the
boundaries of forbidden spaces, what happens to us? Who do we become?
With Quartiers Libres (a French expression meaning "free territory", "limitless space"), choreographer Nadia Beugré explores these questions in a raw and unbridled performance in which she confronts and resists that which seeks to oppress.
Within an immersive and interactive visual and aural design, Beugré battles the stifling confines of the stage, oppressive sound, seas of plastic water bottles and an endless, tangled microphone cable. In this world willing to bury her, Beugré's vain and passionate quest for freedom unfolds, her body and spirit irrevocably changed by the struggle.
Nadia Beugré
Born in Zikisso in Côte d'Ivoire, Nadia Beugré made her first appearances with Dante Theatre in 1995. In 1997, she became a member of the ground-breaking, all-female dance ensemble, Compagnie TchéTché, founded by Béatrice Kombé.
She performed with the company for eight years, touring in Africa, Europe and North America. Following Ms. Kombé's untimely death in 2007, Ms. Beugré began to create her own works.
These include un espace vide: moi, performed in Tunis, Burkina Faso, England and France; 120 M/h, a collaboration with choreographers (and childhood friends) Michel Kouakou and Daudet Glazaï,
which was developed in the U.S. at Bates Dance Festival and VSA New Mexico/North Fourth Art Center, and premiered in Germany at Dansart Bielefeld 2010 Biennale; and Quartier Libres, which premiered at the 2010 Danse L'Afrique danse festival in Mali.
She trained at the Centre Choréographiques in Montpelier, France with Mathilde Monnier; at l'Ecole des Sables in Senegal with Germaine Acogny; and at the Center for Choreographic Development in Burkina Faso with Carolyn Carlson and Burkinabé Bourou Amadou.
Boris
Alexandre Hennion (Sound Designer/Performer)
Boris Hennion is a contemporary dance and
performance artist based in France.
He trained in contemporary dance in the school of Angel Vianna
in Rio de Janiero, and in 2009 at Ex.e.r.ce, a nine-month training program for young choreographers, directed by Mathilde Monnier, in the
National Choregraphic Center of Montpellier, France, where he met Nadia Beugré. Their collaboration on Quartiers Libres began in
2010, with Hennion contributing dramaturgy and sound design as
well as being a co-performer in the piece. Hennion is also the Artistic Director of Korêkri, a
dance and performance company in France. He works as a dancer and
artistic collaborator with a number of dance companies, such as Voie E (Toulouse), and Groupe En Fonction (Tours). He also works as the stage arts
coordinator of an alternative high school in the south of France.