CONTEMPORARY DANCE | US PREMIERE
LE SACRE DE LILA
Ismaël Mouaraki, Destins Croisés (Québec)
Le sacre de Lila, a profoundly personal work by dancer-choreographer Ismaël Mouaraki, traces his own journey through France, Morocco, and Québec in his exploration of the mystical and musical traditions of Lila (“night,” in Arabic), the nocturnal rituals of spiritual healing that employ the trance, song, music, and dance traditions of the Sufi communities of the Maghreb.
Created collaboratively with eight of his Destins Croisés dancers, themselves Moroccan and Québecois, Ismaël draws on childhood memories to reimagine Lila for the current moment, revealing the sensitivity and sensuality of the male body with choreography informed by his signature urban dance style and the mesmerizing electronic soundscape composed by Antoine Berthiaume.
Three disparate geographies, coalescing in the dancers’ movements and tinged with the tastes and colors of Morocco. Le sacre de Lila transforms timeless ritual into contemporary celebration and timely reflection on immigration, in a work that exalts the male body with contagious, energetic dancing.
In collaboration with l’association Salamate Gnawa Montréal.
Le sacre de Lila was awarded the 2023 Prix de la meilleure oeuvre choréographique from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, and will be making its US Premiere at PS21.
Of French-Moroccan origin, Ismaël Mouaraki discovered urban dance in his hometown of Nancy, France at the age of twelve. He began to explore contemporary choreography in depth after meeting Xavier Lot during Lot’s residency at the city’s Centre Culturel André Malraux and performed in the ULAL DTO/Xavier Lot Company’s works for over three years. Lot’s mentoring inspired the aspiring choreographer to pursue his own directions in dance.
Self-taught, Ismaël developed his approach through commissions in Canada and Europe, as a teacher at the École de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal and elsewhere, and alongside renowned choreographers such as Xavier Lot, Tony Masckott, the Accrorap company, Philippe Découflé, Hélène Blackburn, and Dominique Porte.
He founded Destins Croisés (“intertwined destinies” or “fates” in French) in 2003, the Montreal-based company whose philosophy is embodied in its name. As choreographer, Ismaël informs his highly personal vision with elements of a diverse contemporary urban culture, including slam, circus, video, and theater, to create choreographic frescoes that question our ideas about the individual and society and reflect urgent social and cultural issues. Through his eclectic vocabulary of dance and movement, he explores control, domination, and how the individual is perceived within the group.
Destins Croisés has performed worldwide at venues including the Agora de la danse in Montreal, New York’s Lincoln Center, the Performing Arts Market (PAMS) in Seoul, and the Internationale Tanzmesse nrw in Düsseldorf. Its repertoire, which includes Le sacre de Lila, Phénoména, La question des fleurs, oZe, Lien(s), and other pieces, is a vector of social phenomena and the human condition, a search for the imprint of our cultural and social environment on the individual, and its effects on our bodies.
In 2019, Ismaël shared the Prix Envol at the Prix de la danse de Montréal and the Conseil des arts de Montréal, ex aequo, with the company Tentacle Tribe. The prize celebrates the cultural diversity of the Montreal dance community. Last year, again at the Prix de la danse de Montréal, Le sacre de Lila received the award for the best choreographic work from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec.
The music of Antoine Berthiaume, Montreal-based guitarist, composer, and improviser, is an eclectic mix of jazz, folk, classical and experimental. Celebrated for subtlety, emotional depth, and inventiveness, Berthiaume has performed and recorded as a soloist and ensemble player at festivals and concert venues around the globe, and he frequently collaborates with creators of contemporary dance, theater, circus and cinema. He holds a master’s degree in contemporary composition and a doctorate in digital music from L’Université de Montréal. His research and creative work have received support from the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Production: Destins Croisés
Choreographer: Ismaël Mouaraki
Rehearsal Directors and Artistic Advisors: Annie Gagnon, Geneviève Boulet
Performers: Rodrigo Alvarenga-Bonilla, Léo Coupal-Lafleur, Gabriel Jobin, Etienne Léonard Benoit, Daniel Stefek, Alexandre Wilhelm
Additional Performers during creation process: Ayoub Hattab, Faissal El Assia, Soufiane Faouzi Mrani, Yassine Khyar
Music: Antoine Berthiaume. Featuring participation from the Association Salamate Gnawa Montréal and Okto Echo.
Lighting and Technical Direction: Rodolphe St-Arneault
Costumes and Scenography: Marilène Bastien
Co-production: Agora de la danse
PS21 International Dance programs are made possible in part by PS21 Producers Circle and public funds from New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The presentation of Destins Croisés Dance Company’s Le sacre de Lila received support from the the Consulate General of Canada in New York and The Québec Government Office in New York
