Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �1 15

Opening 15-16th November 2017.Approximate running time: 50 minutes.

Cast & partners Choreographer & performer: Didier Boutiana Dramaturgy : Vincent Fontano, Dirk KorellOriginal music: Labelle Texts: Francky Lauret Outside perspective: Nicolas Medea, Soraya Thomas Psychoanalysis / advice: Lydia Ledig

Video: Stephane Tariff Set design: Cédric PerraudeauCostumes: in progressLight creation: in progress

Executive producers: Dirk Korell, Annie AndriamiharisoaProduction administration: Sandrine Bendaoud

Co-production: TEAT Champ Fleuri TEAT Plein Air -Théâtres Départementaux de La Réunion La Cité des Arts Norrlands Operan, UmeåThéâtre Les Bambous Théâtre Vladimir Canter Centre Chorégraphique National de La Rochelle/Cie Accrorap, direction Kader Attou

Support: Direction of cultural affairs Indian OceanRegional council La Réunion County of La Réunion Lalanbik Théâtre le Séchoir

KANYARSolo Didier Boutiana

KANYARSolo Didier Boutiana

*

*kanyar: outsider

Associate artist at Théâtres Départementaux de La Réunion

Associate artist at Cité des Arts. La Réunion

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �2 15

The genesis of the project

Soul City Company has always been committed to its art, and actively participates - directly or indirectly - in encouraging social integration in youth and adults through education and know-how.

For the past two years, Soul City has been partaking in delinquency prevention by developing success oriented teaching methods with an emphasis on self-esteem. It encourages each individual to take part in a process – a structured project – inspiring every person to have a clearer vision of his or her unique abilities. This process opens them up to others and creates awareness.

Above and beyond the different actions taking place on the island, Soul City has been actively involved in social integration with minors who are placed under judicial protection, as well as with incarcerated individuals in the city of Le Port (Reunion Island).

The main objective is education with the hope of rekindling desire and interest in these people who are more than often cut off from society.

As these projects have met with great success, the Ministry of Justice, the Direction of cultural affairs in the Indian Ocean, and Judicial Youth Protection Services have renewed their support in 2015.

The content of the projects have been improved in order to generate a wider curiosity amongst these audiences as well as bringing a better awareness to live performances.

The youth from Judicial Youth Protection Services have continued the mission with the “Young Spectator Project” with the creation of Priyèr’ Sï Priyèr’.

The S.P.I.P (Probation and Rehabilitation Section) has started off their second year of collaboration alongside the company with a 5-week program during 2015-2016.

These encounters inspired Didier Boutiana to create a new performance entitled KANYAR, which he hopes to develop between 2016 -2017.

The programs carried out by the choreographer in these legal establishments allowed him to see this social phenomenon through a different angle. Because delinquency is something he knows personally, this milieu touches him and directly influences his personal choices. His involvement with this universe has largely conditioned his evolution in society.

The experience of collaborating with youth judicial programs over the past two years has inspired Didier Boutiana to create a solo piece. Delinquency can be perceived through group movement, but it is above all a personal and completely individual incarnation.

The choreographer shows particular interest in the individual: he who is faced with himself in moments of deep thought, satisfaction, doubt, certainty as well as memory.

KANYAR

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Nourished by his unique experiences, the piece is personal and explores his intimacy.

The creation of this solo is a first in the choreographer’s artistic career. His precedent creations were trios. With KANYAR, he explores unbeaten paths. He challenges his choreographic language, experiments with new constraints and dramaturgic forms.

Boutiana’s boldness is illustrated by delving into unchartered waters - creating a solo.

For Soul City’s repertoire, the creation of a solo choreography allows the company to artistically break away from what has already been produced both in form and process.

In its evolution, it’s essential to refine its identify and language.

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �4 15

Treatment: the writing process

Delinquency is familiar to me. I am confronted with it on a daily basis with friends and acquaintances.  

During the time I spent raising awareness at Le Port’s penitentiary, I became increasingly curious to get to know the prisoners: what’s it like living in a prison environment? I wanted to understand their frame of mind in this imposed detention brought on by their past actions.

The artistic research is based on my past experiences, as well as on testimonies, encounters and documentation.

The closeness I obtained with the prisoners – because of the projects organized by the Company – allowed many of my questions to be answered. The phenomenon of exclusion is ‘two-sided’. The group excludes an individual, or the individual excludes him or herself from the group by necessity, by conscious choice, or because the logic they subscribe to pulls them away from forging relationships.

Marginalization isn’t exclusive to petty crime. It’s a phenomenon that is seen in other spheres: from large-scale banditry to politicians, including economic and fiscal crime.

We all know kanyars. High-level, highly publicized “thugs” who seem to be untouchable by the law.

I noticed that many social outcasts have a spiritual or religious practice, which can be seen in contradiction with their position regarding relationships. It’s a subject that I find interesting and that I was able to explore through other angles in my previous work. What is the link between sprit, reason and actions with individuals?

In order to get a grasp of these complexities, my initial approach will be based on psychology and the body. In terms of gesture and movement, I’ll call upon my own stories – with their uniqueness, richness and complexity - as well as experiences of people I’ve met along the way. I want to appropriate the theme in order to find its own universe, sound, gestures.

Residences outside of Reunion Island will be organized to get a broader grasp of the subject through meeting different people, and by gathering a large number of testimonies - with different cultural and societal contexts. These testimonies will help me compare and identify different identities in a sociological or even anthropological fashion.

My objective is to understand the complexity of these themes and to integrate them so they can be transcended through movement and space.

KANYAR

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The prison universe is one of the starting points of my creative process. I’ve assigned it the color “rust”. More than a color, it’s the texture of rust that interests me, and I want to integrate it in KANYAR.

Generally speaking, no one likes rust. Rusty objects are tossed away. Rust is something we fight against, something we avoid by any means. In my imagination, in KANYAR, I choose to win it over, to turn it into an ally.

Rust: a question of time.

Time flows by, deforms, erodes and transforms. Time - for me – is a vector of beauty.

Time makes its imprint on these pieces of forgotten civilized lives…

Faced with our society of consumerism and the need for instant gratification, I find my inspiration through objects aged by time. All of these objects are marked by a passage, a movement - from the past towards the future.

What might seem like a “chaotic” universe becomes dialogue and rhythm.

My objective is to create poetry in this manner.

Didier Boutiana

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �6 15

Collaborations beyond Reunion Island

Lydia Ledig, psychoanalyst. She runs les Ateliers du social à Montpellier (Social Workshops). With her career and her rich experience, she’ll be an enormous help with the psychological aspects of my piece, including the mechanisms of isolation, exclusion and integration. For many years, Lydia Ledig has been working as a special educational needs coordinator, mainly in the justice system and particularly with reintegrating prisoners into society. As a therapist, she was trained in Gestalt therapy and in group dynamics. Associate professor at the University of Reims, she taught Family Anthropology, Psychoanalyses and the Questions Linked to Exclusion.In Reunion Island, she trains social workers on questions regarding violence and “the unsaid”.

In the art world, Lydia Ledig created a contemporary photography gallery and a classical music festival.

Dirk Korell has been by my side since November 2015 helping the company with international development, diffusion and production. Dirk has 25 years of experience in performing arts. He creatively adds to my thought process and provides insight on a dramatic level. His career in the world of dance enables him to advise me on the writing as well as on the production dimension, which is important to me.

To enhance and enrich my project, I’d like to share the writing of this performance with people “from the outside”. These collaborations will help reinforce my proposal thanks to an outside perspective of the company. For these exchanges, I call on Lydia Ledig and Dirk Korell.

These rich exchanges aim to yield a different approach to the choreographic composition. It’s the desire to remain close to reality and to articulate a societal phenomenon in a differentiated way. Creating situations where being attentive to others represents the key element of my own implication. Here, sharing and exchanging is essential in order to nourish our curiosity and explore new paths.

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �7 15

Notes and reflections

For his next creation, KANYAR, Didier Boutiana is taking a step away from group dance and, for the first time, choosing a solo piece. It won’t be a monologue and he will avoid creating an impenetrable atmosphere. Instead, he will explore a fresh perspective of the individual/society mirror effect through the use of the “outsider” theme, or “kanyars” as they’re called in Reunionese creole. The translation in English “outsider”: a person who detaches himself from society, by necessity, by survival instinct or because of a life style choice. An outsider can also be defined as a delinquent, outcast or even a politician involved in shady dealings and power games – all resulting in the loss of contact with others. In his research, Didier Boutiana will not limit himself to one social class or socio-cultural category.

The individual, the group, exclusion and ritualThe choreographer’s hard work with youth under judicial protection or within prison environments has given him rich experiences of transmission and has opened paths of dialogue. These exchanges always were based on his personal journey. The choreographer approaches both, the individual and the phenomenon of societal group mechanisms and exclusion.What incites an individual to leave a group? And how does society see those who live outside of standards and conventions?Didier Boutiana is interested above all on the different states of the body. His initial research will be focused on movement, posture, attitude, emotions – but also on the body and its environment.What influence does space have on our elements – body and mind? This question concerns the environment, architecture and city planning, the roots of how our societies are developed in terms of vital space and access to it.

Didier Boutiana witnessed a very religious dimension amongst the kanyars of Reunion Island. Delinquency doesn’t prevent faith. This spiritual dimension has always intrigued him and questions connected to the Sacred can be seen in his past performances. The title of the trio Priyèr' Sï Priyèr' is already evocative. The question of the invention of ritual, and the dimension of power of he who holds the keys and codes to a real or perceived spiritual dimension is highlighted.

Didier Boutiana: Reunion Island, source of inspirationIn his previous creations, Didier Boutiana was inspired by his entourage - Reunion Island in the broader sense. This melting pot in the middle of the Indian Ocean is home to multiple rituals, a place where spirituality and the legends associated with the island’s collective memory are omnipresent. The choreographer integrates these elements in his dramatic process as well as in the development of the movement.

From a trio to a soloThe idea of systematically creating trios for his past four performances runs deeper than the idea that the number “3” is a metaphysical, magic and sacred number: A trio opens up a dialogue between an individual and a group. The “I” with the “others”. A trio reveals the notions of integration and exclusion. What happens to a duo when another, or others join it? Alliances are created or undone. The constellation of three elements opens the door to another dimension. It’s the start of a circle and perspective.

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �8 15

In Didier Boutiana’s writing, movement is initiated by an individual and continued up by the group. Or seen from a different angle, the group allows the individual to pull away, to detach him/herself and to advance in a new direction, enriching the group movement by extrapolating or creating contrasts.For dance stemming from hip hop culture, the continual coming and going between the solo dancer and the group is a boundless source of improvisation during hip hop’s battles.But it would be too simplistic to be limited to this one reference. A great sensitivity and attentiveness to others and the environment - including integrating the natural environment in his pieces - is present in the choreographer’s work. He uses wood and stone as part of the stage décor. Fire and water are also key elements. Nature sounds are present in his compositions: birds, rivers, wind.Having grown up on this island with infinite landscapes, the choreographer interprets this vastness on stage: aesthetically, symbolically and purely. Didier Boutiana goes beyond human discourse. He establishes a dialogue with the elements. The invisible and the spiritual become “spokespersons”, sources of inspiration and spaces to explore.

From Reunion Island outward boundFor his research, Didier Boutiana once again gets inspiration from his entourage in Reunion Island, but he also turns to other horizons, other parts of the world to add a universal approach to his work. The notion of group, individuals, and society differ according to cultural context. In consequence, the mechanisms of integration and exclusion are constructed differently, in other societal contexts. For his research process, he plans on doing residences in other countries.

Rust, utility, transformationRust is an avenue of reflection for the color of this solo. A symbol of barbed wire and imprisonment, it’s also a sign of transformation: metal breathes, oxidizes, transforms. Reverting back to the dramatic approach of KANYAR… we can ask this question: What role do we give an object or a person that has become useless and we abandon?Research around these notions will be carried out for the development of the set and accessories.

Dirk Korell

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �9 15

The artistic crew

Didier Boutiana is director of company Soul City since 2011. In 2009 and again 2010, Didier is awarded with the title of Reunion’s best bboy. Since 2008, he has joined Réunion's main hiphop and contemporary dance companies as a performer. In 2011, he becomes Soul City’s choreographer and develops the performance Body of knowledge in partnership with the South African Dusi Dance Company. His company work Reflex, created 2013, has been acclaimed by both, the audience and dance professionals. In the year 2015, Didier Boutiana was invited to participate at the choreographic research program for the Indian Ocean, ECUMe, an initiative of TEAT Champ Fleuri, in partnership with CND Pantin, coordinated by Yuval Pick. In this frame, at CND,

Didier Boutiana: choreographer and performerhe participated at a training- and research residency with the dancers Bertwin D'Souza (India) and Anjara Rasamiarison (Madagaskar), and at the program "Camping" (with Bertwin D'Souza/India and Nadjani Bulin/La Réunion).The same year, Didier created the trio work Priyèr' Sï Priyèr'.His choreographic identity is based on the deconstruction of esthetics, his capacity to take risks and to go beyond his limits, while maintaining an aim to unify. Didier Boutiana’s dance is situated in a space of friendship, encounters, exchange and alterity. His choreographic research gives life to an instinctive and intuitive movement which, once mastered by dancers, can once again focus on unity, on a "Re-union".

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �10 15

Writer and director of the Kèr Béton Company. This unconditional James Baldwin and Dany Laferrière reader invites the audience to share their thoughts on Reunionese society in each of his performances.

Vincent Fontano: dramaturge

Dirk Korell: dramaturge A graduate of applied theater studies at Gießen and at Paris VIII (Saint Denis), Dirk Korell started his theatrical and production career at Arte and at MC93, Bobigny for 8 years before becoming an independent dance producer.Founder of various production companies, first in the outskirts of Paris, then in Montpellier with camin action, he accompanies French and international companies and carries out various missions in diverse domains of choreographic arts.

Dramaturge on Didier Boutiana’s last creation Priyèr’ Sï Priyèr’ in 2015, he will once again bring a fresh perspective to this new creation.

Teaser "Priyèr’ Sï Priyèr’"

He has worked closely with numerous choreographic creations including his role as production director with the Wang Ramirez company for 10 years. Dirk also brings an outside perspective as a dramaturge to choreographic works.For the creation of KANYAR, as well as being production director, Didier Boutiana invites Dirk to help in the dramaturgy, working alongside Vincent Fontano.

www.caminaktion.eu

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �11 15

Lydia Ledig: consultant – Social work & Psychoanalysis

Francky Lauret: writer, poet, fonnkésér

She also has 15 years experience as social investigator with Family courts. As well as her professional activities, Lydia Ledig has always been involved in the world of culture and art. She opened a contemporary photography gallery and ran a classical music festival. She also worked for two years as head of education in a training center.

www.lesateliersdusocial.com

Francky Lauret - a traditional Reunionese fonnkésér (poet) - conscientiously weaves a web between the arts and different writing forms. Winner of many literary prizes since 1996, he writes both in French and Creole. He’s the author of several novels, short stories, poems and plays. He has worked directly with Soul City since Didier Boutiana’s first creation in 2013.

Lydia Ledig has worked for many years as a specialized educator principally in the legal system: in charge of guardianship and socio-educative probation officer. She helped create and ran a meeting space for parents and children for many years. Alongside her social work, Lydia also opened up her private psychoanalyst practice.

Francky Lauret’s texts are present in all of the company’s productions. Texts that have already been written or commissioned works. His presence in Didier Boutiana’s performances enhances a spiritual dimension to the choreographic universe and adds a touch of “Creole-ness” to the writing.

Franceculture.fr interview with Francky Lauret (in French)

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �12 15

Labelle: composer

Stephane Tariff: videographer

Labelle’s music is a veritable experience in itself. It’s an imagination accelerator. Sung or recited in the typical Reunionese creole style “fonnkèrs” – rhythmic and electronic or experimental – it is surprising by its ability to create atmospheres, illustrate landscapes, resonate scenes of life.Labelle has performed on some of the finest stages: 35th Rencontres Transmusicales in Rennes, Sonar Kollektiv Festival in Berlin, Nuits Sonores in Lyon, Clandestino festival in Sweden, without forgetting shows in Reunion Island where he rocked the opening

Member of collectif AKOZ, Stéphane Tariff is an author-videographer.Born in Reunion Island, he got his masters in audio-visual arts at the University of Montpellier. He then returned to his island to continue his training at the Indian Ocean Image Institute. A dedicated filmmaker, active ecologist, community association coordinator, and film trainer in continuing education, Stéphane Tariff puts his passion and his talent

acts of Woodkid, Kabardock, Danyèl Waro and K, as well as having the honor to play at TEAT Plein Air Théâtres. Late 2104, he was awarded best electronic musician at the Voix de l’Océan Indien Festival and then later became the winner for the Prix Musiques de l’Océan Indien (Indian Ocean Music Award) in 2015. He was the composer on Boutiana’s Priyèr’ Sï Priyèr’ and is now commencing his second collaboration with Soul City.

www.labelle.re

in service to others and works each day to show the world the way he sees it, and at times, the way it could be. Videographer of Soul City’s DCODE during the Danse Péi Festival, Stéphane Tariff once again is collaborating with Soul City on KANYAR.

www.akoz.re

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �13 15

Soraya Thomas: outside view - emotions

Nicolas Medea: outside view - movement

In 2011, Soraya Thomas created Morphose Company after working with choreographers from the Reunionese dance scene: Tetra Danse Company and Eric Languet’s Danses en l’R Company, whom she met in 2002 when she arrived on the island. With Morphose, she focuses on space and sound, and intertwines different artistic disciplines

Nicolas Medea, hip hop dancer, has been a success since the beginning of his career. World champion of hip hop with his group RAF Crew in 2009. Ace 974 – his stage name – is famous in the world of hip hop because of his atypical way of dancing.

creating hybrid, poetic, quirky and always memorable performances.In KANYAR, Soraya will address the question of emotion. An outside view on the different sentiments that KANYAR conveys and on the feelings the audience may experience.

Cie Morphorse- Barry n'est pas complétement blanc

He has performed in contemporary dance companies, such as the Marie-Claude Pietragalla Company as well as for numerous artists and singers such as Madonna, M. Pokora, Kayliah, Lynsha…Ace 974 will provide a critical eye to the choreographic expression of KANYAR.

Video RAF crew - ACE 974

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �14 15

Creation agenda

Artistic research and writing: • Documentation• Choreographic research• See, understand, compare• Trainings outside of Reunion Island• Creation of discussion and sharing areas• Performance K#1- Solo Annabelle Laik

Creation residencies:• 5 rehearsal phases (3 weeks each)• Residencies at Reunion and abroad • Dramaturgy• Choreography • Composition• Development - set design• Development - costume design• Light creation

Year 2016

Year 2017

• Residency 1: 16th January through 3rd February 2017

• Residency 2: 27th March through 14th April 2017 • Residency 3: 29th May through 16th June 2017

• Residency 4: 18th September through 6th October 2017

• Residency 5 & opening: 16th October through 3rd November ‘17

Scheduled work periods

Méthodologie

KANYAR

Company Soul City - La Réunion � / �15 15

Production / bookings (Indian Ocean) Annie Andriamiharisoa+262 692 20 21 35 diff.soulcity@gmail.com

Company Soul City Didier Boutiana

4 rue Fernandel 97420 Le Port La Réunion

+262-692 43 89 07

www.compagniesoulcity.re

Production / bookings Dirk Korell +33 68 543 5567contact@caminaktion.eu

Contacts

KANYAR