Spectacles

Danse

Cie Amala Dianor

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WO-MAN

Amala Dianor has thought for a long time about how to teach/ transmit his solo, “Man Rec,” which he created in 2014 and which has toured ever since, including more than a hundred performances around the world. It channels all Dianor’s technical influences and techniques, including hip hop, contemporary and African dance -- and is a sort of intimate manifesto for the choreographer. Here he lays out his hybrid, unique movement vocabulary, deceptively simple yet complex, abstract yet driven, energetic yet quiet. It was his encounter with Nangaline Gomis in 2018 which inspired him to create “Wo-Man.” She was studtying at the prestigious CNSM in Lyon, and asked the choreographer if she could learn an excerpt of “Man Rec” as part of her study program. They had two days in the studio together, and she received high marks for the work on her exam – then each of them returned to her and his artistic journey.

But he could not stop thinking about a longer period of transmission of the work, and the memory of this extraordinary young woman, Franco-Senegalese like him – stayed with him. So in 2020, instead of teaching her the entire solo, Dianor decided to create for her a prolongation of his original choreography, a re-creation the body of this young woman. Nangaline’s pulsating, propulsive energy offered Dianor the opportunity to transpose his movement into another body, reconstructing, revisiting, reinventing and re-recording the work.

This solo is a continuation, another perspective, offering a different tonicity, vitality and the drive of a committed young dancer. “Man” means “me” in Wolof. “Man Rec” means “only me”. “Wo-Man” would be the feminine version of this choral “me,” filled with diverse influences and cultures.

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CHOREOGRAPHER : Amala Dianor

ORIGINAL MUSIC : Awir Léon

PERFORMER : Nangaline Gomis

LIGHTS, STAGE MANAGER : Nicolas Tallec

COSTUME : Laurence Chalou

EXECUTIVE MANAGER : Valérie Pouleau

TOUR MANAGER : Lucie Jeannenot

SOUND MANAGER : Ugo Raimbault

LIGHT MANAGER : Agathe Geffroy

Creation 2021

A play for 1 dancer

20 minutes

WO-MAN

Kaplan I Cie Amala Dianor is funded by the French government—specifically the DRAC Pays de la Loire—and the City of Angers. Cie Amala Dianor regularly receives support for its projects from the Institut Français and ONDA. The company has received support from the BNP Paribas Foundation since 2020.

Amala Dianor is currently affiliated with MC2, the Maison de la Culture in Grenoble

COPRODUCTION

Théâtre de la Ville, Paris ; Les Quinconces et L’espal scène nationale le Mans ; Maison de la Danse de Lyon / Pôle

Européen Création – DRAC Auvergne Rhône Alpes/ Ministère de la Culture ; Touka Danses, CDCN

Guyane ; Bonlieu Annecy scène nationale

WITH THE SUPPORT

State - DRAC Pays de la Loire ; Angers City

SEE DATES

compagny

A self-taught hip hop dancer, Amala Dianor attended the Centre National de Danse Contemporaine d’Angers, graduating in 2002. For ten years, he worked as a performer, drawing inspiration from a wide range of techniques. In 2012, he founded his own company after winning two prizes at the 2011 Reconnaissance competition for his first choreography, Crossroad.

The choreographer is quickly identified for the singularity of his elegant and organic writing, which is part of a formal research on movement, at the crossroads of styles. Sliding from one grammar to another with virtuosity, he strips choreographic techniques of their spectacular dimensions to preserve only raw movement. Attracted by the encounter and dialogue between beings, he deploys a dance-fusion that hybridizes forms and opens up a poetics of otherness. Since 2014, he has been working with electro-soul composer Awir Leon, who creates the music for his shows. He also regularly works with musicians, visual artists, actors, writers and calligraphers...

In 2019, he was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres medal.

In 2021, with visual artist Grégoire Korganow, he creates a collection of dance films, entitled CinéDanse, which already includes 6 short films that have been chosen in renowned selections. In 2022, he was one of 4 European choreographers selected by the Big Pulse Dance Alliance network. The same year, he presented the Siguifin cooperation project in Europe, aimed at highlighting the creativity of artists based in West Africa, and signed a piece for the South African urban group Via Katlehong, which had its French Premiere at the Avignon Festival.

In 2023, the choreographer created a filmed dance concert, Love You, Drink Water, and DUB, a largescale work for 11 dancers from all over the world with live music, in association with composer Awir Leon and visual artist Grégoire Korganow.

Today, his company has 21 pieces and 6 short films in its repertoire, and presents an average of 90 dates a year in France and around the world, with the support of prestigious institutions. A prolific artist, he likes to inscribe his research in perennial territories and pass it on.

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La Terrasse

“Amala Dianor brings together two works for an exceptional evening. By channeling the fiery energy of youth in Wo-Man and the legacy of dance journeys in Point Zéro, the choreographer is at the height of his art.”

Lyon Capitale

“Blending contemporary, classical, hip-hop, and African dance, she fuses these styles to reveal a language of openness that seeks to bridge differences. Luminous and poetic, her dance finds its rhythm in movements that are both powerful and feline. Amala Dianor captivates audiences and programmers alike”

L'oeil d'Olivier

““From ‘Cité Danse’ in Suresnes to ‘Faits d’hiver,’ Amala Dianor is making waves at festivals at the start of 2022. After a career as a hip-hop artist and training in contemporary dance, the Franco-Senegalese choreographer embraces a hybrid style that draws inspiration from his encounters and collaborations. Placing the transmission of knowledge at the heart of his art, he invites audiences—in the three pieces on view in the Paris region this January—to share in the experience”

Danser Canal Historique

“There is no doubt, however, that the strong personality of this young professional—a graduate of the CNSMD in Lyon, whose training includes African and contemporary dance—will soon allow her to fully embrace this first-person expression of the rage to exist”