The guest performances were a part of a development project in Helsinki funded by Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation. The project run by Tero Saarinen Company aimed to develop the broad of dance performances in Helsinki and hence diversify and multiply the number of audiences. On top of the company’s own productions, in 2014–2017 TSC produced the guest performances of five internationally notable dance companies in Helsinki: Jo Strømgren Kompani: A Dance Tribute to the Art of Football, 420PEOPLE: 14’20’’ and Wind-up, Dance Development: Against the Flow, CCN Rillieux-la-Pape: Loom and PlayBach, and Kader Attou – Cie Accrorap: The Roots.
Kader Attou / Cie Accrorap: The Roots
Tero Saarinen Company’s series of presenting international guest performances was continued in May 2017 with The Roots. The globally acclaimed hip hop creation by choreographer Kader Attou took Helsinki audiences by storm. Cie Accrorap sold out all three performances at the Main Stage of the Finnish National Theatre.
About the creation
International rising star, choreographer Kader Attou’s hip hop work for eleven male dancers has captivated audiences and critics alike from New York to Paris. With The Roots Attou, who is of Algerian descent and director of his own dance group in France, returns to the wellsprings of hip hop, while playfully questioning the identity of this ubiquitous dance style. Drawing on the inspirations of his youth – circus and boxing – and a blend of Western and Eastern dance traditions, Attou’s hip hop speaks about humanity, awareness and unawareness of otherness, and about encounters between people. About phenomena that bring people together all over the world.
The Roots
Kader Attou / Compagnie Accrorap
Artistic Director, Choreographer Kader Attou
Scenography Olivier Borne
Original Sound Creation Régis Ballet – Diaphane, along with additional music
Lighting design Fabrice Crouzet
Costume design Nadia Genez
Dance Kader Attou, Babacar ”Bouba” Cissé, Bruce Chiefare, Virgile Dagneaux, Erwan Godard, Mabrouk Gouicem, Adrien Goulinet, Artem Orlov, Mehdi Ouachek,
Nabil Ouelhadj, Maxime Vicente
Light, sound and stage technicians Fabrice Crouzet, Laurent Semelier, Christophe Dupuis
Performances in Helsinki:
Production Tero Saarinen Company in collaboration with the Finnish National Theatre
``Cie Accrorap has toured the world extensively with The Roots, and this was their first visit to Finland – but hopefully not the last.”
- Demokraatti, 29 May 2016
``The Roots, fills the Finnish National Theatre’s stage with such charged energy that afterwards it feels like even the audience is walking a few centimetres above ground.``
- Helsingin Sanomat, 27 May 2016
``A standing ovation for a hip hop performance on the Main Stage of the Finnish National Theatre was also something that I never dreamt I would get to see.”
- Facebook comment, 2017
”I couldn’t sleep that night, because the performance was so great and impressive. --- pure magic``
- Facebook comment, 2017
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