‘La Nuée’

After a research visit to the First Nation Dakota tribes in North America, choreographer Nacera Belaza was struck by the distinctiveness and uniqueness of their communal festive rituals. Participants from different communities gather in a circle, dancing individually and collectively to an ascending rhythm.

Inspired by these rituals, Belaza started developing her recent performance, La Nuée. In French, the title holds two meanings: a dark cloud and a dense flock of birds.

In addition to seven professional dancers from her internationally acclaimed dance troupe, Belaza collaborates with three students from the Sharjah Performing Arts Academy, who participate in a special version of the performance in Sharjah. The 10 dancers move in a pitch-dark space in a performance that unfolds like a painting being drawn on a black canvas. The successive moving tableaux becomes visible under very precise jets of light that appear and disappear in tandem with the rhythm of a distinctive and singular soundtrack.