Sol Invictus

#energetic #liberating

In his working notes, Hervé Koubi describes SOL INVICTUS in the following terms: the universe, the cycle of the seasons – how do we fit in this vast, whirling, changing space? This space, tied to the meaning of our life, is bounded by its beginning and its end; the destiny of all of us is identical to it and that’s why – connected and confronted with it – I dance.

Sol invictus, or How I laughingly look death in the eye while I dance.

I long to rediscover a sense of communion that results from people and cultures coming together, regardless of what ethnic, cultural or religious group they may belong to.

Dance brings people together and unites them. Dance infiltrates human and geographical barriers, blurs the boundaries between different styles of ballet, urban dance and acrobatics.

SOL INVICTUS will be a fertile work of vibrant energy, performed by 15 dancers from France, Europe, Brazil, Asia, North Africa and the United States, to music by Mikael Karlson and Maxim Bodson and works from the repertoire of Steve Reich and Ludwig van Beethoven.

A doctor of pharmacy with Algerian roots, Hervé Koubi chose to pursue a career as a dancer and choreographer and studied at the University of Aix-Marseille.

He subsequently trained under Rosella Hightower at the Centre International de Danse in Cannes and later at the Opéra de Marseille. As a dancer and later as a choreographer, he worked with significant artists like Jean-Charles Gil, Jean Christophe Paré, Emilio Calcagno and Barbara Sarreau, and from 1999 was a member of Centre Chorégraphique National de Nantes at the Hotel Central under Claude Brumachon and Benjamin Lamarche. This was followed by collaborations with Karine Saporta of the Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen and with Thierry Smits’ Company in Brussels.

In 2010, Hervé Koubi founded a company of his own for the first time while auditioning in Algeria. He selected 12 dancers from Algeria, Morocco and Burkina Faso in order to work with them on a new work that would be entitled CE QUE LE JOUR DOIT À LA NUIT. None of these talented dancers had ever stood of a stage before. It’s predominantly hip-hoppers and street dancers who have had the necessary strength to carry out the long-term project in an exact way. Strong and sinewy, they fascinate the audience with their athleticism and their grace – unlike any western dance. In 2015, Hervé Koubi created LES NUITS BARBARES, a hommage to the North African peoples of the Mediterranean which grew from Hervé’s being rooted in that region.

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