Abou Lagraa, la république des sens
Fleur Albert
2019 - 52 min - Video Full HD - Couleur - France

The film depicts the artist, the dancer and the choreographer, Abou Lagraa working between Annonay and Geneva at the heart of the creative process.
Following an international career, Abou Lagraa has return to his native town of Annonay in Ardèche. He recently designed a space to create choreographies in a former desacralized chapel which is opened to everyone and attracting artists from all over the world, the Saint Mary’s Chapel.
Along with his company “La Baraka”, he is working on his creations while continuing to transmit to a variety of people. Few months later, we will be immersed inside his new creation "Wahada" danced by the ballet company of the Grand Théâtre of Geneva. The film depicts and interprets the creative process on one had; and tries to understand Abou’s commitment in the city and his living desire to pass on on the other hand.
The film starts in Annonay during the rehearsals of "Tahrir, emancipation in Arabic", danced by non and semi-professional hip hop dancers from the region. Session after session, Abou’s work begins to take shape. His personality is thoroughly presented along with his unique technique intertwining creation and commitment but most specifically breaking down the moral boundaries as much as the social and cultural ones. Rehearsals are opened to everyone; words and questions are going around as freely as the dancers’ bodies circulate. Abou Lagraa encourages them with humour and requests through the composition of each of their personalities. The film shows how the choreography evolves, how the personality of young dancers expands with grace and gravity.
Few months later, change of settings: we attend Abou Lagraa’s new creation at Geneva’s Grand Theatre, where he is invited for his new show Wahada (the Promise) from Mozart’s Great mass in C minor. Back at work with Abou and his dancers, we dive into the roots of his art by discussing with Philippe Cohen, his former professor of the Conservatoire National de la Danse in Lyon, 25 years ago. We follow the rehearsals with Abou and his wife, Nawal, a dancer and his current artistic partner. We see them lean forward with the dancers of the Geneva ballet company.
With this ballet corps there are moments of grace, moments of doubts, tensions and opposition, a sensation of let go but also excellence and brilliance. At each step of the process, either in Annonay or Geneva, we catch Abou’s liberty and what his creation techniques’ are. He presents his artistic vision, the path taken to create his choreographies. The story is about this intimate and essential affinity in his work between creation and transmission.
This unique approach of dance is exceptional. It is not of no interest that it is from a choreographer born of Algerian immigrants, he exposes a new story and embodies an alternative world to come. This film is an encounter with a marvellous man. An encounter, which gives the possibility to explore and expose what is at stake in the movements of the body in their social, political and esthetical scope.