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

Born in Morocco of a Berber father and French mother, Nawal Aït Benalla Lagraa moved to France with her family when she was eight. She began ballet very young and completed her classical training, during which she tackled the repertoire’s great roles. Before long, Nawal broadened her dancing and became interested in contemporary and jazz styles. She took part in
productions with the Armstrong Jazz Ballet, where she had the opportunity to work with choreographers as contrasting as Wayne Barbaste and Géraldine Armstrong, Georges Momboye and Matt Mattox... 

An artist in the fullest sense, open to diverse forms of artistic expression, Nawal was soon approached by many other choreographers and directors.
As a result, she has performed in Jacques Weber’s Cyrano de Bergerac at the Théâtre du Châtelet, in Yannis Kokkos’ The Trojans and at Opéra Bastille with Blanca Li... She has also taken part in numerous audiovisual events. 

Passionately committed to exchanges and teaching, in 2005 she obtained her State Diploma as a dance teacher at the Centre National de la Danse, Pantin (Paris). 

She joined the La Baraka company in 2006 for Matri(k)is and became Abou Lagraa’s assistant for the Ballet Memphis (USA) commission in 2007. 

For the Lyon International Dance Biennial in 2008, Abou Lagraa devised the duet D Eux Sens for Nawal and himself. 

In 2009, she assisted Abou Lagraa for the Closing Ceremony of the Pan African Festival in Algiers. This was a revelation for her, and she decided to dedicate herself more fully to training young Algerian dancers, offering them professional status through an introduction to contemporary dance. 

In 2010, in addition to performing in Un monde en soi, a piece for seven dancers and the Debussy Quartet, she helped Abou Lagraa develop the Mediterranean Cultural Bridge project for which she took over the educational leadership. 

In her own words This intensive training is, in my opinion, the right way to convey to these young performers, committed in body and in soul, the appreciation for hard work and thought that you need to gain access to the state of dance, to freedom... 

She continues to teach while NYA is on tour, and shares her love of teaching in many workshops and masterclasses, particularly in France, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Russia, the USA... 

She assisted Abou Lagraa for his 2012 creation, Univers l Afrique, and helps the dancers of the Algiers Contemporary Ballet in their teaching mission to help a new generation of teacher/dancers bloom in Algeria. 

Source : La Baraka

En savoir plus : www.aboulagraa.fr

Born in 1977, Fabien Plasson is a video director specialized in the field of performing arts (dance , music, etc).

During his studies at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (joined in 1995) Fabien discovered video art. He was trained by various video artists (Joel Bartoloméo Pascal Nottoli , Eric Duyckaerts , etc).
He first experimented with the creation of installations and cinematic objects.

From 2001 to 2011, he was in charge of Ginger & Fred video Bar’s programming at La Maison de la Danse in Lyon. He discovered the choreographic field and the importance of this medium in the dissemination, mediation and pedagogical approach to dance alongside Charles Picq, who was a brilliant video director and the director of the video department at that time.

Today, Fabien Plasson is the video director at La Maison de la Danse and in charge of the video section of Numeridanse.tv, an online international  video library, and continues his creative activities, making videos of concerts, performances and also creating video sets for live performances.

Sources: Maison de la Danse ; Fabien Plasson website

More information: fabione.fr

La Baraka is a contemporary dance company (association law 1901). With a repertoire, pieces shot through with pure energy and a hybrid style that borrows from everything that has made up the path of the two choreographers: the other shore of the Mediterranean, contemporary dance, jazz, hip-hop and even yoga postures. 

Source: Cie La Baraka - La Chapelle / Abou Lagraa & Nawal Aït Benalla

More information: www.aboulagraa.fr