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

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

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