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Eastman/Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui: FAUN
Afternoon of a Faun (1912) is probably the most famous work of Vaslav Nijinsky, along with the historic premiere of The Rite of Spring (1913). This year the TANEC PRAHA Festival presents both titles in a completely original concept. Sidi Larbi chose Faun to mark the 100th anniversary of the Ballets Russes, and the phenomenal male dancer is also joined by an ethereal Nymph.
Larbi's Faun is contemporary, lively, carefree, half animal and half human. Debussy's music remains an inspiration for contemporary composers, who give it another dimension. A complex work, whose protagonists become as much eternal archetypes as creatures of the present.
Don't miss the opening ceremony of TANEC PRAHA 2017 featuring Eastman / Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui with Fractus V on 28 May in the Forum Karlín!
420PEOPLE & Eastman / Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui: NOMAD
Sidi Larbi dazzled audiences at TANEC PRAHA with the performance of Sutra featuring Shaolin monks (2011). That was when he first met Václav Kuneš. Six years later, the unbelievable has happened and the dancers of 420PEOPLE will stand on stage alongside the dancers of Eastman in an entirely new work that Larbi has created for the occasion.
The creative range of one of the most outstanding talents on the contemporary dance scene is truly extraordinary. Besides Buddhism his works are inspired by flamenco, Indian dance or Michael Jackson to whom he paid tribute in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil.
He has also worked in film (Anna Karenina), theatre and the visual arts. Now he is collaborating for the first time with a top Czech company.
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (BE)
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (*1976) first made a name for himself when he won the Best Belgian Dance Solo award in 1995, and in the years to follow his talent and ambition to go beyond the limits of a single artistic discipline were confirmed. His experience at Alain Platel's Les Ballets C de la B led to the creation in 2000 of his first choreography Rien de rien, a work that immediately set the tone for his next performance, an innovative, cross-border piece that was still attractive for a diverse audience.
As an Associate Artist of the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London he created together with Shaolin monks the production Sutra (2008), which was presented at the TANEC PRAHA Festival in 2011 to wide acclaim. In 2010, he founded the Eastman dance ensemble and created several major works, such as Babel, Fractus V and Puz/zle, and won countless international awards, including the Total Theatre Award, the Barclay Theatre Award and two Olivier Awards. In 2011, UNESCO named him a "Young Artist for Intercultural Dialogue between Arab and Western Worlds" for his outstanding artistic contributions.
Cherkaoui has also created several opera choreographies and in 2015 he became the artistic director of the Royal Ballet of Flanders. He also impressed audiences with his choreography for the film Anna Karenina. In addition he has worked together with pop artists, creating among other things a video clip for Icelandic band Sigur Ròs, participating in the creation of a show for the Cirque de Soleil, Michael Jackson ONE, and others. In March 2016 he became the first person of mixed origin to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Antwerp for his impressive continued research on intercultural issues. The new work Icon is being created in cooperation with the Swedish Göteborg Danskompani and the Eastman ensemble, and his latest work together with 420PEOPLE in a co-production with the TANEC PRAHA Festival.
"Our company consists of hundreds of identities, and every person carries their own identity as well," says Cherkaoui. "He feels it is important to live in harmony with all of these aspects. And where words create a barrier, then dance and movement can create a bridge between different cultures and views of the world."
