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Sep 03 2022 - 18:30

Teatro Zandonai, Rovereto

Zéphyr

National premiere

Mourad Merzouki has been challenging the possibilities of dance for more than 20 years. After launching his hip hop in flight with Vertikal – presented at the Oriente Occidente Dance Festival in 2019 – he returns to Rovereto with Zéphyr, a creation for ten dancers that transforms Ulysses' struggle with the winds and forces of nature into a collective experience.

The music is by Armand Amar, who uses voices, ethnic instruments and electro-acoustic sounds to create a sound journey through the waves that echoes Merzouki's language, supporting it with energy, emotion and lightness. Ten highly talented performers sculpt the wind, giving shape through movement to a struggle waged by Merzouki who, like a tightrope walker over the sea, desires to tame the air.

The choreographer brings a natural element onto the stage and shapes a body for it, treating us to an adventure in the deep waters but dedicating the piece "to all those who risk their lives at sea, in search of freedom, struggling with the winds and the tides".

The dancers give a breath-taking performance, somewhere between contemporary and hip-hop. Both sophisticated and accessible, Mourad Merzouki is at the top of his game.

- Mathilde Beaugé, Tribune de Lyon
Zéphyr

Artistic direction and choreography Mourad Merzouki
Assisted by Marjorie Hannoteaux
Music design Armand Amar
Lighting design Yoann Tivoli
Assisted by Nicolas Faucheux
Stage design Benjamin Lebreton
Costume design Émilie Carpentier
Performers Soirmi Amada, Ethan Cazaux, Nicolas Grosclaude, Emma Guillet, Simona Machovičová, Camilla Melani, Mourad Messaoud, Tibault Miglietti, James Onyechege, Wissam Seddiki
Additional music credits Long Distance Productions - Isabel Sörling (Vocals), Sarah Nemtanu (Violin), Lise Berthaud (Viola), Grégoire Korniluk (Cello), Julien Carton (Piano)
Recording, mixing, sound design Vincent Joinville at Studios Babel in Montreuil-sous-Bois
Music production Katrin Oebel
Light control Cécile Robin
Sound control Guillaume Blanc
Stage management François Michaudel
Producer Centre chorégraphique national de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne / Cie Käfig
Coproducers Département de la Vendée, Maison des Arts de Créteil

Duration 70 min