Skip to main content
Back to search
  • Add to playlist

Azimut

Fondation BNP Paribas 2013

Choreographer(s) : Bory, Aurélien (France)

Present in collection(s): Fondation BNP Paribas

en fr

Azimut

Fondation BNP Paribas 2013

Choreographer(s) : Bory, Aurélien (France)

Present in collection(s): Fondation BNP Paribas

en fr

Azimut

Freely based on the figure of Sidi Ahmed Ou Moussa

Moroccan acrobats are called “the children of Sidi Ahmed Ou Moussa”. He was an eminent 16th century Sufi thinker, whose grave has become a pilgrimage shrine.  He is regarded as the Patron Saint of Moroccan acrobatics. Initially, these acrobatics performances are not considered as being a part of the performing arts; they are closely related to Soufism, they emerged from ancient Berber ritual practices and they consist of circular and pyramidal stunts, in which I perceive both celestial and maternal representations.

In Sufism, an ontological quest, the concept of the path is essential. Azimut (Azimuth in English) derives from the Arabic As-samt (Sumūt in the plural), meaning “the paths”. Azimut is the term used in astronomy to describe the angle between the observer and the celestial bodies. With this meaning, the sky is summoned.
In the legend of Sidi Ahmed Ou Moussa, when the wise man reached the heavens, he looked back at Earth and men, and settled upon going back. Among others, his path led me to embrace the return motif as the core of the writing.

I liked the idea of the return to mother-earth, a return where birth and death are intermingled; by its very nature, a return used as the compass of life.

I like pondering these verses by T.S. Eliot: “We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started... “


Source: Aurélien Bory, September 2013, Source: Cie 111

Bory, Aurélien

Aurélien Bory was born in Colmar in 1972. His studies in physics in Strasbourg led him to the field of architectural acoustics.  He then ended his scientific curriculum in 1995.  He settled in Toulouse where he joined the creative studio at the Lido, the Circus Arts Centre. In 1998, he played in Theatre Tattoo's "L'Odyssée" directed by Mladen Materic.  In 2000 he founded Compagnie 111 with actor Olivier Alenda.  He then conceived and began the six-year-long space trilogy project, in collaboration with Phil Soltanoff, including "IJK", "Plan B" and "Plus ou moins l'infini" (More or less, Infinity).
In 2003 he directed Pierre Rigal in his first solo creation Erection, the stem of their ungoing collaboration, which also originated their second work together: Arrêts de Jeu premiered in 2006. Merging various other fields, he created "Taoub" in 2004 in Tangier with twelve moroccan acrobats, this very show will launch the international career of the Groupe acrobatique de Tanger (Tangier Acrobatic Group).  In 2008 Aurélien was the recipient of the "Créateur sans frontières" (Creator without borders)/ Radio France trophy for his international creations, notably "Les sept planches de la ruse" (The seven boards of skill) created in China in 2007 with performers from Dalian. In 2008 and 2009, he conceived two creations: "Questcequetudeviens?", a portrait of a woman, and "Sans Objet", a piece for an industrial robot. His creations include different artistic fields : theatre, circus, dance, visual arts, music...  His genre-crossing approach is inscribed within the question of space and is explored through his distinctive scenography. In 2016, he created "ESPÆCE" based on the French writer Georges Perec 's work, at the Festival d'Avignon (France).


Source: Company 111 's website ; Plan Bey 's press file


More information : cie111.com

Groupe acrobatique de Tanger

Artistic direction : Sanae El Kamouni

Creation: 2003


The  Groupe  Acrobatique  de  Tanger  was  set  up  by  Sanae  El  Kamouni  in 2003  in  order  to  assemble  a  troupe  of  traditional  Moroccan acrobats with a view to creating a  contemporary  circus  show.  The  group  now tours worldwide. In Morocco there is an age-old acrobatics discipline  where  artists  always  reproduce  the same figures, with no creative latitude. El  Kamouni  shook  up  this  tradition  and  injected fresh impetus. Having met Aurélien Bory (Compagnie 111), they    travelled    Morocco   in   search   of   acrobats,   and   met  the  Hammich  family  of  acrobats  in  Tangiers.  This  encounter  yielded  "Taoub" (2004), which toured for six years in more than 20 countries. The group cultivates a unique art, stemming from the Amazigh tradition of Sidi Ahmed Ou Moussa which dates from the 16th century. This   discipline,   which   involves   forming   human pyramids, has military roots; it was used  for  the  scaling  of  defensive  walls;  it  also  includes  circular  figures  such  as  the  “Arab  wheel”.  This  ancestral  expertise  is  now  being  renewed  as  it  cross-fertilises  with Western choreography. The acrobats continued  along  their  path,  and  in  2010  invited  Martin  Zimmermann  and  Dimitri  de  Perrot  (stage  directors  and  circus  artists)  to   create   "Chouf   Ouchouf",   a   journey   through  a  labyrinthine  covered  bazaar,  courtesy of an ingenious set design. These top-flight artists settled in Toulouse in 2010. Aurélien Bory renewed their colla-boration  in  2013,  creating  "Azimut".  In  2016, Abdeliazide  Senhadji  (Compagnie  XY)  is  teaming  with  the  group  to  create  their  latest work.


Source: 17e Biennale danse (2016) - press file

Compagnie 111

Artistic Direction: Aurélien Bory

Creation: 2000


The stage is a space. It can be defined as the rectangular plane of the stage-platform and the equivalent volume of air. This space is the only medium where one cannot escape the laws of general mechanics. This particularity is important to me. Both bodies and objects are inescapably subjected to gravity. My proposition is to summon the means of the body, as well as the means of the stage, whatever they may be, to contemplate this fact. Bodies and objects both are relevant regarding gravity. The relationship between the individual and space, every single element of this relation, is what I am interested in studying on stage.
 

Our theater apprehends the stage as a physical space, where physical actions are formulated. Etymologically, the actor is performing the action. A play is a serie of actions. At the circus, the extraordinary is foretold. It’s not so at the theater ; it shows up by surprise. At the circus the extraordinary-being is invoked, whereas at the theater, we come and see our fellowman. The stage is a world. The actor dwells there, in this space, and the issue is to question the place of man in the world. My starting point is the interaction between these two elements: the scenic space as a world, and the actors as the ordinary men.
 

The issue of space raises the question of limits. The limit is the unknown. It sharpens our craving for discovery. It embodies the place of creation. Our theater is at the junction of different arts : the circus, dance, visual arts, music… but our concern to renew the form and the thrill to remain unlabelled are more important than belonging to a definite field. I’d rather the form emerged at the edge of things.
 

My work originates from different contexts. My every collaboration can be contemplated as a crossbreeding between different, converging fields. Each creation can be inscribed at the crossroad with another definite context : belonging to an artist’s, or to a place, to a practice, or a particular domain… In each case, my process remains the same : we need to push things around to the fringe, at the place of wonderings.


Source : Cie 111 's website


More information : cie111.com

Azimut

Artistic direction / Conception : Aurélien Bory

Interpretation : Groupe acrobatique de Tanger : Mustapha Aït Ouarakmane, Mohammed Hammich, Amal Hammich, Yassine Srasi, Achraf Mohammed Châaban, Adel Châaban, Abdelaziz El Haddad, Samir Lâaroussi, Younes Yemlahi, Jamila Abdellaoui
 / Younes Hammich (chef du Groupe acrobatique de Tanger) / Sanae El Kamouni (Directrice du Groupe acrobatique de Tanger)

Stage direction : Aurélien Bory

Set design : Aurélien Bory

Original music : Joan Cambon


Live music : Najib El Maïmouni Idrissi, Raïs Mohand
 (chanteurs)

Lights : Arno Veyrat, Olivier Dupré

Costumes : Sylvie Marcucci avec Clotilde Elne et Amélie Mistler

Settings : Pierre Dequivre et l'atelier de la fiancée du pirate (et machinerie)

Sound : Stéphane Ley, Edouard Heneman


Other collaborations : Arno Veyrat et Sylvie Ananos (régie générale) / Mickaël Godbille, Tristan Baudoin et Thomas Dupeyron (Plateau et manipulation) / Taïcir Fadel (recherche et adaptation) / Marc Bizet (Vol) / ICE Alain Abidbol (bureau d'études)

Production / Coproduction of the choreographic work : Production, diffusion Florent Piraud et Alexandra Cahen (Grand Théâtre de Provence), Florence Meurisse et Christelle Lordonné (compagnie 111 - Aurélien Bory), Sanae El Kamouni et Marie Reculon (Scènes du Maroc) Production déléguée Grand Théâtre de Provence [Aix-en-Provence] Coproduction Grand Théâtre de Provence [Aix-en-Provence], Marseille-Provence 2013 - Capitale européenne de la culture, compagnie 111 - Aurélien Bory, Scènes du Maroc, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Le Grand T théâtre de Loire-Atlantique Nantes, Le Volcan scène nationale du Havre, CIRCa Auch Gers Midi-Pyrénées, Théâtre du Rond-Point Paris, Agora pôle national des arts du cirque Boulazac-Aquitaine, la Filature scène nationale de Mulhouse Avec le soutien Conseil Général des Bouches-du-Rhône - Centre départemental de créations en résidence, Assami, Deloitte, Fondation Deloitte et Fondation BNP Paribas
Avec l'aide L'Usine scène conventionnée pour les arts dans l'espace public Tournefeuille Toulouse Métropole La compagnie 111 - Aurélien Bory est conventionnée par le Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication - Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles de Midi-Pyrénées, la Région Midi- Pyrénées et la Ville de Toulouse, et reçoit le soutien du Conseil Général de Haute-Garonne. Elle bénéficie du soutien de la Fondation BNP Paribas pour le développement de ses projets.
La compagnie 111 - Aurélien Bory est associée au Grand T théâtre de Loire-Atlantique Scènes du Maroc bénéficie du soutien de la Fondations BNP Paribas et de la Fondation BMCI pour le développement de ses projets et reçoit le soutien de l'Institut Français du Maroc.

Our videos suggestions
06:04

Adieu et merci

Laâbissi, Latifa (France)

  • Add to playlist
07:44

Douve

Julien, Tatiana (France)

  • Add to playlist
08:43

La nuit transfigurée

Saire, Philippe (France)

  • Add to playlist
19:43

Infundibulum

Paccagnella, Mauro (Belgium)

  • Add to playlist
06:47

Factory

Robbe, Hervé (France)

  • Add to playlist
03:00

Géométrie de caoutchouc

Bory, Aurélien (France)

  • Add to playlist
02:59

Questcequetudeviens ?

Bory, Aurélien (France)

  • Add to playlist
09:45

Traversées

Dubois, Kitsou (France)

  • Add to playlist
12:42

Sur la route

  • Add to playlist
06:08

Tarina

  • Add to playlist
03:23

Hautes pointures

  • Add to playlist
09:55

Le Bal des Intouchables

  • Add to playlist
03:00

Les arpenteurs

Noiret, Michèle (Belgium)

  • Add to playlist
07:03

Caramba

Decouflé, Philippe (France)

  • Add to playlist
11:50

A la renverse

Monnier, Mathilde (France)

  • Add to playlist
02:53

Relic

  • Add to playlist
02:55

Théorie des Prodiges

Biscuit, Karl (France)

  • Add to playlist
02:59

CouaC

Michard, Alain (France)

  • Add to playlist
01:18:58

Heroes

Huynh, Emmanuelle (France)

  • Add to playlist
Our themas suggestions

Bagouet Collection

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

The BNP Paribas Foundation

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

DANCE AND DIGITAL ARTS

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

Strange works

 Unconventional contemporary dance shows which reinvent the rapport to the stage.  

Parcours

fr/en/

Meeting with literature

Collaboration between a choreographer and a writer can lead to the emergence of a large number of combinations. If sometimes the choreographer creates his dance around the work of an author, the writer can also choose dance as the subject of his text.

Parcours

fr/en/

Dance and performance

 Here is a sample of extracts illustrating burlesque figures in Performances.

Parcours

fr/en/

The Dance Biennale

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

Hand dances

This parcours presents different video extracts in which hands are the center of the mouvement.

Parcours

fr/en/

Arts of motion

Generally associated with circus arts, here is a Journey that will take you on a stroll through different artists from this world.

Parcours

fr/en/

The “Nouvelle Danse Française” of the 1980s

In France, at the beginning of the 1980s, a generation of young people took possession of the dancing body to sketch out  their unique take on the world. 

Parcours

fr/en/

Modern Dance and Its American Roots [1900-1930] From Free Dance to Modern Dance

At the dawn of the 20th century, in a rapidly changing West, a new dance appeared: Modern Dance. In the United States as in Europe, modern trends emerge simultaneously and intertwine in thier development. Let's dive into the beginnings of American modern dance!  

Parcours

fr/en/

Noé Soulier Rethinking our movements

Exposition virtuelle

fr/en/

States of the body

Explanation of the term « State of the body » when it’s about dance.

Parcours

fr/en/

Dance in Quebec: Untamed Bodies

First part of the Parcours about dance in Quebec, these extracts present how bodies are being used in a very physical way.

Parcours

fr/en/

Dancing bodies

Focus on the variety of bodies offered by contemporary dance and how to show these bodies: from complete nudity to the body completely hidden or covered.

Parcours

fr/en/

Outdoor dances

Stage theater and studio are not the only places of work or performance of a choreographic piece. Sometimes dancers and choreographers dance outside.

Parcours

fr/en/es/de/pl/pt-pt/

Dance at the crossroad of the arts

Some shows are the meeting place of different trades. Here is a preview of some shows where the arts intersect on the stage of a choreographic piece.

Parcours

fr/en/es/de/pl/pt-pt/

The contemporary Belgian dance

This Parcours presents different Belgian choreographers who have marked history and participated in the creation of a "Belgian" style.

Parcours

fr/en/es/de/pl/pt-pt/

Scenic space

A dance performance takes place in a defined spatial area ... or not. This course helps to understand the occupation of the stage space in dance.

Parcours

fr/en/es/de/pl/pt-pt/
By accessing the website, you acknowledge and accept the use of cookies to assist you in your browsing.
You can block these cookies by modifying the security parameters of your browser or by clicking onthis link.
I accept Learn more