DANCE REVIEW: The Roots

By ORA BRAFMAN
The Roots (photo credit: MIRABEL WHITE)
The Roots
(photo credit: MIRABEL WHITE)
ACCRORAP COMPANY
‘The Roots’
Choreography: Kader Attou (France)
Herzliya, June 13
Kader Attou is one of the leading creative forces who has carved a new legitimate niche in contemporary dance field together with his former colleague Mourad Merzouki , both of Algerian decent. They formed Accrorap two decades ago, and few years later Merzouki left and created his own company Kafig. Both are very successful, well established in their own creative ways, winning audiences favor and the dance establishment’s recognition.
From its relatively humble beginning in Lyon, Accrorap was marked as ambitious visionary entity, trying to fuse the street break-dance phenomena into stage dances based on manipulated break-dance and hip hop techniques.
Shortly afterwards, Lyon, known for its culinary excellence, also evolved into the capitol of hip hop. Each evening one can find practicing youngsters on the stairs leading to Lyon Opera House polishing their acts, dreaming of an exit out on stage.
Gone are the days when hip hop was only an outlet for street youth. Attou’s creations are products of artistic inspiration, deep understanding of stage craft, music, design and lighting in sync with his basic outlook on life.
The thematic skeletons of his show ‘The Roots’ (2013) is composed of several scenes depicting memories, relations and interactions of the past. It opens with a dancer seated on a shabby, stuffed armchair, listening to music on his old record player as he falls asleep. A group of 11 male dancers act out highlighted memories from his past.
It was a bit surprising to see the mature and ethnically diverse dancers that display distinct individuality within the detailed movement’s lexicon. The fetching ambiance sound, designed by Regis Baillet, fit the clever way Attou uses the incredible virtuosity by each dancer like a glove and softened the inherent bold roughness of the basic hiphop with sleek fluidity and delicate hand gestures, that are part of the company’s characteristics.
The 90-minute performance supplied many delightful scenes dotted with unforgettable eye-opening compositions, intricate floor work, unisons of camaraderie, and plenty of the talented Attou’s sensitivities and sensibilities.
Attou had expressed it well as he said: “The Roots is a human adventure.”
Accrorap will also perform at Haifa Auditorium June 18.