Choreography Georges Momboye
Dance performance Compagnie Geroges Momboye

Landmark and guide for thousands of Africans who live in villages without electric light, the moon is the light source which beautifies hearts and bodies and gives the spirit wings to travel. Lulled by its light, at times discreet, at times indiscreet, we are led into the heart of a thousand and one stories from Africa and beyond.

A source of embellishment, of beauty, it casts the shadows of beings who meet, draw close or move apart. In a game of silhouettes, an unreal space, life is fashioned at the whim of shapes and shadows drawn by the white lady. Out of the strange light, emerging directly from the twilight, faces, bodies and new spaces appear. This is the start of comings and goings during which the light dims towards darkness. The ever-present moon shimmers now from all sides to clothe in its full splendour the solos which emerge, then melt into duets, combine as trios, quartets, quintets to a frantic rhythm. The energy carries the bodies while the light re-invents the onstage area. A poetic space opens up, in a harmony of rhythms switching between live and recorded, like some construction site open to public view, full of pranks and marked with sensitivity.”

Georges Momboye

Source : Maison de la Danse programme

Credits

Chorégraphie Georges Momboye assisté de Saul Dovin créateur lumière Romain Ratsimba créateur costumes Éric Ann Marcus création de la bande musicale Ivan François Chiossone et Éric Aldéa danseurs Nadège Fenghom, Guylaine Noyon, Nadège Sordet, Amala Cheikh, Nestor Kouame, Daudet Grazai musiciens Patrice Goure Bi Ta, Thomas Guei administratrice Muriel Adolphe chargée de production, diffusion Catherine Hérengt

Coproduction Théâtre Antoine Vitez/Ivry- sur-Seine, Ville d'Ivry-sur-Seine, Espace Jacques Prévert/Aulnay-sous-Bois, Les Théâtres/Maisons Alfort, Centre culturel Aragon-Triolet/Orly avec l'aide du Conseil général du Val-de- Marne et le soutien de la SPEDIDAM

Production Maison de la Danse date du document vidéo 2006 réalisation Charles Picq

Durée de l'œuvre 45 minutes

Updating : February 2011

Born in Ivory Coast and trained in classical, jazz and modern jazz dance, Georges Momboye began his performing career as a member of traditional companies such as Les Guirivoires, Ensemble Koteba and the Ivory Coast National Ballet. He soon felt himself cramped by traditional performance and sought other choreographic experiences in France, the United States and Canada, with artists such as Alvin Ailey, Brigitte Matuizi, Rick Odums, Elsa Wolliaston and Gisèle Houri. 

In 1992 he decided to move to France and create his own company Yankady, “creative freedom” in Malinke, which was renamed the Georges Momboye Company in 1996. The company's resolutely-declared aim is to disseminate a representative artistic expression of contemporary Africa, which he defines as “young African dance”. The repertoire mingles contemporary, African and hip-hop technique, and includes two re-interpretations of Russian ballets (“l'Après-midi d'un faune” and “The Rite of Spring”), commissioned by the Biennale of Val-de-Marne, and pieces for a young audience (“Claire de Lune”). An internationally-recognised artist, he teaches dance courses in Europe, the United States, Asia and Latin America. In Paris in 1998, he founded the Centre de Danses Pluri-africaines et des Cultures du Monde, also known as the Momboye Centre, with support from UNESCO's International Dance Council. This is a key venue for discovering dance coming out of the African continent as well as being a venue for comparisons and exchanges.

Further information : 

Digital resource  - Médiathèque du Centre national de la danse
http://mediatheque.cnd.fr/spip.php?page=mediatheque-numerique-ressource&id=PHO00003890

Company website
Georges Momboye Dance Company