France’s fusion hip-hop company Käfig presents a powerfully physical program on April 19 & 20, 2012 at 7:30 pm in the NAC Theatre. In the complementary pair of works Correria (running) and Agwa (water), internationally renowned choreographer Mourad Merzouki, Artistic Director of Le Centre Chorégraphique National Créteil et Val-de-Marne, combines hip-hop, capoeira, samba, and acrobatics with high-energy electronic music and bossa nova to create a frenzied and athletic spectacle. Regular tickets are sold out, but half price obstructed view seating is still available at the NAC Box Office.
French-Algerian choreographer Merzouki spent his formative childhood and teenage years training in circus and martial arts, beginning to perform and create hip-hop only in later years. The heavy influences of his earlier training are readily apparent in his choreographic vocabulary, resulting in a unique style of movement that integrates the intense athleticism of circus and karate.
The first piece on the program, Correria, plunges the audience into a whirlwind that echoes the frenzy of the modern world. It made its debut in January 2010 at the Espace Albert Camus in Bron, France. This stunning display of bodies in movement sets the scene for the second piece, Agwa.
Agwa was created following an encounter between Merzouki and a group of young dancers from Brazil’s Companhia Urbana de Dança at the Biennale de la Danse in Lyon in 2006. Merzouki was inspired by the self-taught performers who, growing up in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, learned to draw on their passion for dance to forge toward a better life. From that first encounter grew the concept and eventual performance of Agwa. The work is about water, a precious resource to be protected and preserved, and it is performed amidst cups of water laid out in tight corridors. The piece was first presented at the Biennale de la Danse in Lyon in September 2008, and toured to great acclaim in France, Europe, and Japan.

 
“The eleven dancers commit themselves totally, energetically, joyfully. Absolutely irresistible!”
- Le Figaro

Correria
Choreography: Mourad Merzouki with the close collaboration of the dancers
Assistant: Laurence Pérez
Musical arrangements: AS’N
Lighting design: Yoann Tivoli
Stage design: Mourad Merzouki and Benjamin Lebreton
Costumes design: Delphine Capossela
Video: Charles Carcopino

Agwa
Choreography: Mourad Merzouki
Assistant: Kader Belmoktar
Musical Director: AS’N
Lighting design: Yoann Tivoli
Stage design: Mourad Merzouki and Benjamin Lebreton
Costumes design: Angèle Mignot

Duration: 80 minutes with one intermission

These performances in Ottawa form part of an extensive Canadian tour of Cie Kafig, supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, which includes  engagements in Quebec City, Montreal, L’Assomption, Kingston, Sherbrooke, Burlington, Toronto and Banff.

The presentations of Cie Käfig |CCN Créteil et Val-de-Marne are made possible with the generous support of Institut Français and the French Embassy in Canada.

CIE KÄFIG
Dance master class taught by Mourad Merzouki
Thursday April 19, 2012
10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

Mourad Merzouki, Artistic director and choreographer of Cie Kafig from France will give a workshop on his signature hip hop fusion style, accompanied by a dancer from Brazilian Companhia Urbana de Danca. The workshop is open to professional, pre-professional or advanced level hip hop or contemporary dance students and dancers (aged 16 and up)
 
• Location: Rehearsal Hall B, National Arts Centre, 53 Elgin Street, Ottawa (enter by Stage Door)
• Cost: $20, payable in cash on site.
• You must REGISTER in advance, as space is limited, at soutter@magma.ca 613-947-7000 ext. 588 – Renata Soutter, Dance Outreach Coordinator

Käfig performs in the NAC Theatre on April 19 & 20, 2012 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $37.67, $46.28 and $50.58 for adults and $20.34, $24.64 and $26.79 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card).
Groups of 10 or more save 15% to 20% off regular ticket prices; to reserve your seats, call 613-947-7000, ext. 634 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca.
Tickets are available for purchase:
• In person at the NAC Box Office
• At all Ticketmaster outlets
• By telephone from Ticketmaster, 1-888-991-2787 (ARTS)
• Online through the Ticketmaster link on the NAC’s website (www.nac-cna.ca)
• A service charge applies on all purchases made through Ticketmaster
This production is eligible for the Trinity Live Rush program. Full-time students aged 13-29 with a valid Live Rush membership may buy up to two tickets per performance at the discounted price of only $12 per ticket. Live Rush tickets are available from 10 a.m. on the day before the performance until 6 p.m. on the day of the performance. This includes all available seats, including the best seats in the house. Check out liverush.ca for information on the Trinity Live Rush program.

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For more information, please call:
Eleri Evans
Marketing and Communications Officer, Dance
National Arts Centre
613-947-7000 ext. 379; e-mail: eleri.evans@nac-cna.ca
or visit the NAC website at www.nac-cna.ca