Premiered to the public in 2013 in La Rochelle, France, the hip hop dance show The Roots immediately created a buzz in France as well as many cities and countries around the world. The famous French newspaper, Le Monde, did not hesitate to praise the show: “The vitality of The Roots, a show with 11 dancers choreographed by Kader Attou, exploded with energy like a can of soda being shaken vigorously. Hot, flowing and boiling constantly, the show turned the entire stage into an impressive scene with powerful, continuous geysers.”
Lively yet still very “poetic”, The Roots lead the audience into a space full of nostalgia. A sky full of childhood memories of 10-year-old Kader is recreated through an old record player, time-stained vinyl records or an old armchair… That boy, from a poor working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Lyon, fell in love with hip hop, so even though he used to practice and really liked martial arts or circus arts, he eventually decided to dedicate his life to hip-hop.
Born in 1974 in the suburbs of Lyon to an Algerian immigrant family, Kader Attou is currently the Director of the National Center for Dance Arts of La Rochelle, the successor of the “legendary” choreographer of many generations of Vietnamese dancers, Régine Chopinot. He is the first hip-hop choreographer in French history to be appointed as the director of a National Center for Dance, but above all, Kader is famous as a “veteran” choreographer in the French hip-hop scene and one of the very few choreographers in the world who has brought street hip-hop to prestigious theaters. “Kader is a magician. He leads us to unexpected things… through his hands, (dancers) can truly develop their abilities to shine”, Soria Rem answered in an interview on France Télévisions.
Indeed, the “magician” Kader Attou’s “transformative” ability has been firmly established through dozens of successful performances. Kader uses hip-hop as a bridge to create connections and dialogue with many different art forms, dialogue in difference. If Anhoka is a subtle combination of hip-hop and traditional Indian dance, Petites histoires.com is a blend of circus art and hip-hop, Opus 14 is a marriage between hip-hop and ballet, then “The Roots” is “a wonderful epic of hip-hop art spanning 30 years…”
“The Roots portrays the art of hip-hop through the virtuosity and poetry of the dancing bodies...” - Kader confided. Choreographer Kader Attou honors The Roots with the talent and virtuosity of eleven dancers. A humanistic adventure, The Roots connects the stories of each individual, each dancer with their own unique personality. Music also plays an important role in The Roots, as a provocation and the dancers respond. Brahms, Glazunov, electro music together open the door connecting the audience to the world of dance. Coming to The Roots, the audience will enjoy the story of popular cultures and memories intersecting. A story of origins.
The Roots have performed on large and prestigious stages across France and around the world such as the US, Israel, Italy, Finland, Czech Republic, Belarus, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Norway... In Vietnam, The Roots will take place on April 10 at the Opera House (HCMC) and April 13 at the Youth Theatre (Hanoi), within the framework of Krossing Over Arts Festival 2019.
More information:
Within the framework of Krossing Over Arts 2019, the French Institute in Vietnam proudly presents the hip-hop dance “The Roots” by French choreographer Kader Attou:
- Time: 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, 2019
- Location: Ho Chi Minh City Theater – 7 Lam Son Square, District 1
- Ticket price: 100,000 VND - 150,000 VND - 350,000 VND - 550,000 VND - 1,000,000 VND
- Tickets sold at:https://bit.ly/2OE7N5B
The program also took place in Hanoi on April 13, 2019.
