Program Black Box
18.07 | 19:00 | 62’
19.07 | 19:00 | 62’
Kalamata Dance Megaron / Black Box
JOSEF NADJ
FULL MOON
Full Moon, which premiered at the Montpellier Danse Festival in June 2024, brings together seven of Omma’s eight dancers to continue, broaden and deepen the exploration begun with that piece. And Josef Nadj has chosen to join them on stage.
The moon in the title refers to the cosmos, to the formation of the universe, to the process that precedes and anticipates the appearance of life. Associated with renewal and transformation, with its 28-day cycle and four phases, it could also provide the piece with a kind of rhythmic structure, a compositional grid.
Nadj’s research into the origins of the music and its continuity is complemented by another avenue, another territory that he wishes to explore in this creation: the world of Black American jazz, from its original forms – the blues and spirituals – and its mutations, right up to the present day; a musical genre that has been appropriated by whites and whose dance component has almost completely disappeared. He set out to introduce the dancers to this music, or rather to these musics, which were foreign to them, even though in a way they have their roots in the African continent.
Together with the dancers, he set about analyzing the forms specific to these musics, drawing out their spirit and thought, and seeking a dance that corresponded to them. Born of this “fascinating work”, Full Moon pays implicit homage to some eminent representatives of this movement: Charles Mingus, Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Full Moon calls on yet another figure, that of the puppet, which, like the mask, runs through all of Josef Nadj’s work. This figure, in fact, reappeared during the creation of this piece. The reason both the puppet and the mask return here is that both are prevalent in African cultures. Envisaged as the junction or tipping point between the inert and the living, the animate and the inanimate, it carries another dimension, a meaning other than that of the “living” body, to which it provides a kind of counterpoint. But for Josef Nadj, this figure also conveys the principle of life imprisoned in form, and he interprets it as an emanation of the creator, a force that tries in vain to interact with its creations. In this sense, the presence of the puppet, of the “puppet man” alongside the living, represents for him the fact that a creation is never perfect, and that it imposes the need to accept the game, even in its imperfection.
With the support of the French Institute of Greece – Service of cooperation and cul
- Choreography: Josef Nadj
- Interpreters: Timothé Ballo, Abdel Kader Diop, Aipeur Foundou, Bi Jean Ronsard Irié, Jean-Paul Mehansio, Sombewendin Marius Sawadogo, Boukson Séré & Josef Nadj
- Artistic Collaborator: Ivan Fatjo
- Technical Director & Lights: Sylvain Blocquaux
- Costumes: Paula Dartigues
- Music: Fritz Hauser, Famoudou Don Moye & Tatsu Aoki, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Malachi Favors Maghostut & Tatsu Aoki, Peter Vogel, Christian Wolfarth, Lucas Niggli
- Production, Distribution: Bureau Platô Séverine Péan & Mathilde Blatgé
- Administration: Laura Petit
- Executive Production: Atelier 3+1
- Coproduction: Montpellier Danse, Le Trident, Scène Nationale de Cherbourg, MC 93 Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis, Bobigny, Charleroi Danse, Le Tropique Atrium, Fort-de-France, Théâtre des Salins, Scène Nationale de Martigues, Le Théâtre d’Arles
- With the support of: Ministère de la Culture – DRAC Ile de France Action financée par la Région Île-de-France, Teatroskop – a program initiated by the French Institute, the French Ministry of Culture and the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs
- Residencies: With the support of Montpellier Danse 2024, a creative residency at Agora, International City of Dance, with the support of the BNP Paribas Foundation, CND – Centre National de la Danse at Pantin, La Maison des Métallos, Paris, Charleroi Danse, La Cocoteraie des Arts, Mondoukou, Artus Studio, Budapest, Le Trident, Scène Nationale de Cherbourg, MC 93 Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis, Bobigny.
JOSEF NADJ
Josef Nadj defines his work in dance as creating a platform for encounters. Beyond his role as choreographer, he is an artist without borders and without barriers.
A dancer, as well as a visual artist and photographer, he creates a poetic and passionate vision of humanity. He remains constantly in search of new forms and ceaselessly explores humanity to get as close as possible to its truth. Across his career, from Canard Pékinois (1987) to Mnémosyne (2018), Josef Nadj has relentlessly pursued exigent and passionate choreography in which gravity and compassion take turns, with depth and humor alternating. Whether he is approaching atypical authors (Beckett, Kafka, Michaux) or incorporating painting into his work on stage (in performance with Miquel Barceló), Josef Nadj flourishes in complete corporeal freedom.
Oscillating between reality and fantasy, tradition and modernity, he explores the essential: man’s relationship with himself. For Nadj, dance fundamentally embodies humanism.
Over the years, the works of Josef Nadj have become points of reference in modern dance. Beyond his national influence (Carte Blanche at the Grande Halle de La Villette in Paris in 2014; Associated Artist at the 2006 Avignon Festival that officially designated him a “creator without borders”), his work is recognized and celebrated around the globe. His works have been warmly received in nearly 50 countries, with over 400,000 audience members across five continents enjoying them in prestigious international venues. Drawing his inspiration from the depths of the great myths of humanity, passionately intertwining both artistic disciplines and cultural references, Josef Nadj is developing a universal language.
From 1995 to 2016, Josef Nadj served as director of the Centre Chorégraphique National d’Orléans. In 2017, he established his new company Atelier 3+1 in Paris.