Your Chosen Practitioner

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is a renowned, world famous choreographer within the dance industry. He is a choreographer that has “made more than 20 fully-fledged choreographic pieces and picked up a slew of prestigious awards.” (Sadler’s Wells, 2023) I’ve always been interested in his collaborations and works, as I think he’s a very innovative and risk taking choreographer that pushes boundaries within dance. I admire his unique stylistic qualities, fusing hip hop and contemporary, and incorporating eclectic stage elements to heighten his intended atmosphere and themes. I have always admired his work Sutra, a piece I’ve seen live before, which is a performance that incorporates the practices of Buddhism, with Shaolin Monks dancing throughout the piece to live music with the dancers' live chants.

(English National Ballet, 2023)

I admire Cherkaoui because of his eclectic approaches to choreography, incorporating a variety of styles such as “African dance to voguing in the contemporary scene.” (Cappelle, 2019) In addition, I admire his collaborations with other dance artists and companies, and how he incorporates multi culture into his works, enabling the audience to be educated and introduced to new and exciting cultures. As a choreographer, I feel he is a great example of pushing the boundaries of choreography, as well as creating art in dance form and providing a mass of opportunities for many up and coming artists.

(Kenton, 2005)


From this research, I would like to take his emotional connection he has to choreography and apply that to my performance, in the hopes of creating an awareness for my audience that impacts their emotions, so they can understand the struggles someone may face through the stages of grief. He utilises “release technique” (Cherkaoui, 2019) to help with the “emotional commitment to a movement” (Cherkaoui, 2019) Something he praises Pina Bausch for implementing and becoming a pioneer for within the dance industry. I would like to apply this to my work, and experiment with how I can increase the emotional intensity within the movement to help portray my themes of acceptance, as well as depression.

Bibliography

Cappelle, L (2019) Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui: Art as a Creative Process. Available at http://www.danceicons.org/pages/index.php?p=190503090408 [Accessed 6th October 2023] 


Cherkaoui, S (2019) Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui: Art as a Creative Process. Available at http://www.danceicons.org/pages/index.php?p=190503090408 [Accessed 6th October 2023] 


English National Ballet (2023) Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Photograph.


Kenton, T (2005) Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in Zero Degrees. Photograph.


Sadler’s Wells (2023) Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Available at https://www.sadlerswells.com/about-us/supporting-artists/individual-artists/associate-artists/sidi-larbi-cherkaoui/ [Accessed 5th October 2023]

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