Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

Last updated

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.JPG
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in 2009
Born (1976-03-10) 10 March 1976 (age 47)
Antwerp, Belgium
Occupation(s)Choreographer, dancer, director

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (born 1976) is a Belgian dancer and choreographer and director. He has made over 50 choreographic pieces and received two Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, three Ballet Tanz awards for best choreographer (2008, 2011, 2017), the KAIROS Prize (2009) [1] and the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities (2018). [2]

Contents

Early life

He was born on 10 March 1976 in Antwerp, Belgium, [3] to a Flemish mother and a Moroccan father. [4]

After being talent-spotted, he participated as a dancer in variety of shows and television programs. At the age of 19 he won his first prize for his solo performance that included a mixture of vogueing, African dance and hip-hop motifs, at the national dance competition initiated by Alain Platel.[ citation needed ]

Later on he started studies at P.A.R.T.S., the dance school run by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Here he got to know techniques of such choreographers as William Forsythe, Pina Bausch and Trisha Brown. During these studies, Cherkaoui also worked together with hip-hop and modern jazz dance companies.[ citation needed ]

Career

Cherkaoui debuted as a choreographer in 1999 with Andrew Wale in the contemporary musical Anonymous Society. But he gained a broader acknowledgment with his work at les ballets C de la B with such pieces as Rien de Rien (2000), Foi (2003) and Tempus Fugit (2004). Whilst working there he undertook several other projects, including D’avant (2002) with artistic partner Damien Jalet and zero degrees (2005) with Akram Khan. He has also collaborated with abundance of theatres, opera houses and ballet companies, like Geneva Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in New York. [4] From 2004 to 2009 Cherkaoui was the associate artist at the Toneelhuis theater in Antwerp. There he produced such works as Myth (2007) and Origine (2008). In 2009, he won the KAIROS Prize.[ citation needed ]

After premiering Sutra in 2008, working around the world and collaborating with various artists (Dunas with María Pagés, Faun (both 2009)), he founded his own in own company in January 2010 called Eastman in Antwerp, resident at deSingel International Arts Campus.[ citation needed ]

He went on continuing his work and in the spring of 2010 Cherkaoui won his first Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production for Babel(words) together with choreographer Damien Jalet and Antony Gormley. In 2012 he gained his second Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production for Puz/zle.[ citation needed ]

In 2015, he directed his first full-length theatre production Pluto in Tokyo and was movement director for Hamlet (Lyndsey Turner) at the Barbican Centre in London. In 2015 he also launched a new production called Fractus V for his company Eastman. [1]

Since 2015, Cherkaoui is the artistic director at the Royal Ballet of Flanders, where they have seen such works of his as Fall (2015), Exhibition (2016) and Requiem (2017). Cherkaoui is an associate artist at Sadler's Wells, London.[ citation needed ] He will leave the Royal Ballet of Flanders and become the artistic director of Le Grand Théâtre de Genève in Switzerland in 2022. [5]

In February 2017, he appeared in a dancing presentation in Woodkid's release "I Will Fall for You". [6]

Original works

Cherkaoui's work can be divided chronologically in five periods: Debut (1), Les Ballets C. de la B. (2), Toneelhuis (3), Eastman (4) and Royal Ballet Flanders/Eastman (5).

Debut

Les ballets C. de la B.

Toneelhuis

Eastman

Royal Ballet Flanders / Eastman

UnitedHumans Award

In 2014 Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet were the first to win the UnitedHumans Award for Mutual Respect. This award is granted to individuals, associations or organizations that applies mutual respect, sincere friendship and equality in dignity to life in a sustainable or a leading and remarkable way or having en effective impact on society. [7]

Europe Theatre Prize

In 2018, Cherkaoui was awarded the XV Europe Prize Theatrical Realities, in Saint Petersburg, with the following motivation:

Creator of a dance theatre with no artistic, geographical or style boundaries, finding in it all kinds of connections, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui knows how to build performances of ‘soul’, of great formal beauty and a strong emotional impact. His works put into dance terms West and East, the worlds of dance and contemporary art, Chinese martial arts or Japanese manga, strangely incandescent worlds from beyond the grave where one can seek harmony through song, or beautifully disturbing visions of a future genesis, to call up but a few of them. The use of the body, movement, space and objects, his conceptual approach to dance, make every production by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui a scenic event whose language achieves a particular stylistic form, perfect and truly captivating. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Royal Ballet</span> Ballet company in the United Kingdom

The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois. It became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946, and has purpose-built facilities within these premises. It was granted a royal charter in 1956, becoming recognised as Britain's flagship ballet company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth MacMillan</span> British ballet dancer and choreographer (1929–1992)

Sir Kenneth MacMillan was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Earlier he had served as director of ballet for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He was also associate director of the American Ballet Theatre from 1984 to 1989, and artistic associate of the Houston Ballet from 1989 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wim Henderickx</span> Belgian composer (1962–2022)

Wim Henderickx was a Belgian composer of contemporary classical music. He was composer in residence at Muziektheater Transparant and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, writing operas and other stage works. His music was influenced by oriental music and philosophy. He taught composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

The Festspielhaus St. Pölten is a Festspielhaus in St. Pölten, the capital of Lower Austria. It is located next to the Landesmuseum, the Ausstellungshalle, the Landesbibliothek, the Landesarchiv and the Klangturm in the cultural district of St. Pölten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alistair Spalding</span>

Sir Alistair Spalding has been the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Sadler's Wells theatre since 2004.

The KAIROS Prize has been awarded to European artists and scholars from the fields of visual and performing arts, music, architecture, design, film, photography, literature and journalism since 2007 by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation in Hamburg. It is endowed with a sum of 75,000 Euro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drew Jacoby</span> American contemporary ballet dancer

Drew Jacoby is an American contemporary ballet dancer. As of 2020, she is a principal dancer of Royal Ballet of Flanders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Filetta</span>

A Filetta is an all-male singing group that performs traditional music from Corsica. It's made up of Corsican singers who try to popularize the traditional Corsican Polyphony singing style. To assert its Corsican identity, the group's name refers to a kind of fern that grows on the island.

Stéphane Bullion is a retired French Étoile dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet.

The Royal Ballet of Flanders is a dance company based in Antwerp, Belgium, specializing in classical, neoclassical and contemporary ballet. In its current incarnation, the company was established in 1969. It tours internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah Peel</span> British musician

Hannah Mary Peel is a British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer. Her solo music is primarily electronic, synthesiser-based and often includes classical scoring and sound design, with references to the links between science, nature and music. She has scored music for television, film, theatre and dance, including Game of Thrones: The Last Watch.

Rahi Rezvani is an Iranian-born photographer and film director, based in Amsterdam.

P.A.R.T.S. - Performing Arts Research and Training Studios is an international school for contemporary dance that is located in Vorst, one of the 19 municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.

Damien Jalet is a Belgo-French freelance choreographer, dancer and performer working internationally. His work is often collaborative, creating intricate bounds between dance and other artistic media such as visual art, fashion, theater and music.

Elisa Badenes is a Spanish ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer at the Stuttgart Ballet in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain Platel</span> Belgian choreographer

Alain Platel is a Belgian choreographer and director. In 1984, he founded les ballets C de la B, which has been called 'one of the world's most influential dance theatre companies'. Platel came to prominence alongside choreographers like Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and Wim Vandekeybus in what became known as the Flemish Wave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Osbaldeston</span> English ballet dancer

Nancy Osbaldeston is an English ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeSingel</span> Arts center in Antwerp, Belgium

deSingel is a Belgian arts center. It is located on the Desguinlei in Antwerp. Its various stages, concert halls and exhibition spaces offer a manifold program of music, dance, theater and architecture. It is also home to the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, the Flemish Architecture Institute (VAI), the Study Center for Flemish Music (SVM), the VDAB employment initiative for theatre technicians Sabbattini, the Eastman dance company, ChampdAction, I Solisti, detheatermaker and the Spiegel String Quartet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milena Sidorova</span> Choreographer and former ballet dancer

Milena Sidorova is a Ukrainian-Dutch choreographer, mostly known for her choreography The Spider and a role as human spider in the Oscar-winning science fiction film Dune (2021). She is a former ballet dancer and currently creates choreographies as a Young Creative Associate with the Dutch National Ballet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuima Nakazato</span> Japanese fashion designer (born 1985)

Yuima Nakazato is a Japanese fashion designer and an eponymous fashion brand. As of 2023, he is the only guest member of Haute Couture Week from Japan.

References

  1. 1 2 "Eastman – Overview". east-man.be. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  2. "XVII EDIZIONE". Premio Europa per il Teatro (in Italian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  3. Craine, Debra; Mackrell, Judith (1 January 2010), "Cherkaoui, Sidi Larbi", The Oxford Dictionary of Dance, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780199563449.001.0001, ISBN   978-0-19-956344-9 , retrieved 17 May 2020
  4. 1 2 Roy, Sanjoy (17 December 2009). "Step-by-step guide to dance: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  5. Laubacher, Kyra (12 July 2021). "Comings and Goings: Ballet Is Seeing Some Major Leadership Changes". Pointe.
  6. Woodkid YouTube channel: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui & Woodkid - "I Will Fall For You"
  7. "unitedhumans". unitedhumans. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  8. "Catalogue XVII edition - Europe Theatre Prize" (PDF). 10 November 2018. p. 62.

Sources

Further reading