{"id":99734,"date":"2023-10-18T10:29:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T14:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=99734"},"modified":"2023-10-18T10:29:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T14:29:15","slug":"preview-fouad-boussoufs-nass-launches-harboufronts-torque-contemporary-dance-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2023\/10\/18\/preview-fouad-boussoufs-nass-launches-harboufronts-torque-contemporary-dance-series\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Fouad Boussouf’s N\u00e4ss Launches Harboufront\u2019s Torque Contemporary Dance Series"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Fouad
Fouad Boussouf’s N\u00e4ss (Photo: Charlotte Audureau)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the 5th season prepares to launch, Harbourfront Centre’s Torque series has grown into one of Toronto’s most exciting contemporary dance showcases. The 2023-24 season opens with the Canadian premiere of N\u00e4ss by Moroccan-born choreographer Fouad Boussouf, on stage from October 26 to 28.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to open our 2023\/24 Torque season with Harbourfront Centre\u2019s debut of Fouad Boussouf\u2019s N\u00e4ss,\u201d says Nathalie Bonjour, Director, Performing Arts at Harbourfront Centre. \u201cPerformed with extraordinary musicality and intense physicality, it offers an exhilarating view into the complexities of human kinship, community and solitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fouad Boussouf & N\u00e4ss<\/h3>\n

Born in Morocco, Fouad came to France at the age of seven with his family. With a master\u2019s of arts and a master\u2019s in social science from Paris-East Cr\u00e9teil University, where he now teaches, he founded the Compagnie Massala in 2010. He is currently the Director of the National Choreographic Center \u2014 Le Havre\/Normandie.<\/p>\n

He is trained in hip-hop, and he blends it with elements of contemporary dance, and both traditional and modern choreography.<\/p>\n

N\u00e4ss, a piece for seven male dancers, got its premiere in 2018, and has been performed throughout Europe and in China.\u00a0Conceptually, the piece was inspired by the group Nass el Ghiwane, established in 1970 as a marriage of music and avant-garde political theatre. They became famous throughout Morocco and beyond, and were the first to blend traditional instruments with the banjo and other modern Western instrumentation.<\/p>\n

His choreography is steeped in Moroccan Gnawa dance traditions, blended with modern jazz, contemporary circus, and hip-hop. Gnawa has a hypnotic, trance aesthetic that combines music with dance and Sufi poetry. Athleticism and acrobatics create an intense experience, with a score led by Roman Bestion, Marion Castor and Boussouf.<\/p>\n

N\u00e4ss is the second piece in his trilogy based on life in the Arab world. The first, Transe, was set in the Middle East, and the last, 2020’s O\u00fcm, in Egypt.<\/p>\n

\"Louise
Louise Lecavalier in Stations (Photo: Andre Cornellier)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Torque 2023-24<\/h3>\n

The rest of the season includes Canadian and international dance masters,<\/p>\n