Odyssey

Following previous all-male works such as Ce que le jour doit à la nuit (“What the Day Owes to the Night”) and Les nuits barbares ou les premiers matins du monde (“Barbarian Nights or the First Mornings of the World”), dancer and choreographer Hervé Koubi brings together fourteen dancers for a piece that celebrates femininity. Guided by the crystal-clear, mystical voice of Belgian singer Natacha Atlas, hip-hop and contemporary dance come together on stage to create a series of spellbinding scenes. The choreography, punctuated by traditional Arabic percussions, gives rise to a new interpretation of the myth of Ulysses: far from glorifying the conqueror’s victory, it is rather the female heroine, awaiting the return of her beloved, who is celebrated. A symbol of patience and renewal, she represents a land of welcome, love, and reconciliation. In this ballet, the crossing of the sea becomes a metaphor for a difficult but necessary journey of initiation, which allows human beings to evolve towards an ideal of peace.

Hervé Koubi creates here a “white ballet”. Koubi’s ODYSSEY moves away from Homer’s story but keeps the sea as its basis, and the woman as a heroic figure. This new danced epic features Natacha Atlas, diva of Arabic music, who gives her bewitching voice to this tribute to femininity. On the stage, Koubi brings together 14 dancers, male and female, with rich and varied Mediterranean backgrounds. They give life to a great choreographic wave, intense and sensual, which downplays the heroic battles described by Homer to explore the cultural links, migrations, and turmoil of a sea that connects and carries lives. The stage is an Aladdin’s carpet, between ocean and sky, in the pristine vapours of a disappearing world. The energy of hip-hop is in dialogue with elements of contemporary dance, shaping a powerfully modern narrative. The time to love, the space for a rare and precious journey!

The Barbarian Nights by Compagnie Herve Koubi, Herve Koubi Ce que le jour doit à la nuit by Compagnie Herve Koubi, Herve Koubi Boys Don’t Cry by Compagnie Herve Koubi, Herve Koubi