"Curtain raiser on "La camelle" by Sidi Graoui. A tribal dance around a luminous sculpture. The dancer with the mane of lioness releases a fierce energy. A performance with a telluric energy. "

Source: Didier Hémardinquer - L'Est Républicain - 12th April 2006 / CCN - Lorraine Ballet (program)

Sidi Graoui, dancer/choreographer, created Air Food Company in 2005 and settled in Clermont-Ferrand in January 2006. His cultural curiosity led him to explore relationships between contemporary dance and other artistic expressions, theatre, visual arts, music, etc.

A professional dancer and graduate of La Rochelle National School of Music and Dance, Sidi Graoui went on to study at Montpellier CCN (National Choreographic Centre), under the direction of Mathilde Monnier, and then performed for several renowned companies such as the Aix-en-Provence CCN, under the direction of Angelin Preljocaj and Heddy Maalem’s company, to name but two.

Sidi Graoui’s work focuses on the body awareness pedagogy taught by Jacques Garros (Bordeaux) and from which he has retained everything related to the rapport with his own body structure, through anatomical knowledge of the human body, which is both conscious and sensitive.

His personal research addresses the dancer’s ability to develop powerful energy, by creating “printed circuits”, i.e. sequences of movements which can be repeated and magnified as they are “rooted” in the body. This work calls on the discernment of the dancer’s linking play and requires extreme gestural rigour and precision. Sidi Graoui’s dance reproduces these circuits which have been recorded one after the other in the body. When assembled, they create freed, moving writing.

Source : Site de Bellerive sur Allier

Since acquiring the CCN title in 1999, the Centre Chorégraphique National - Ballet de Lorraine has dedicated itself to supporting contemporary choreographic creation. As of July 2011 the organization is under the general and artistic direction of Petter Jacobsson.
The CCN – Ballet de Lorraine and its company of 26 dancers is one of the most important companies working in Europe, performing contemporary creations while retaining and programming a rich and extensive repertory, spanning our modern history, made up of works by some of our generations most highly regarded choreographers.
The CCN functions as an art center and venue for multiple possibilities in the fields of research, experimentation and artistic creation. It is a platform open to many different disciplines, a space where the many visions of dance of today may meet. 

More information : http://ballet-de-lorraine.eu