FIAF Presents CROSSING THE LINE Festival 2023, September 8- October 12

The French Institute Alliance Française, FIAF, presents the line-up for the 16th annual arts and performance festival Crossing The Line Festival, running from September 8 through October 12. '

The 2023 festival features two dance performances by choreographer Tatiana Desardouin: Trapped, elevating under-represented voices with bold street and club dance styles, and an all-night club culture refresh, Les 5 Sens. Renowned actress Isabelle Adjani stars in Marilyn's Vertigo, which explores the life and legacy of icon Marilyn Monroe, and Simon Senn and Tammara Leites share a timely artificial intelligence adventure in dSimon.

Choreographer Smaïl Kanouté’s Never Twenty One pays tribute to young people who have lost their lives to gun violence, and Olivier Tarpaga honors refugees from violence in Burkina Faso with Once the dust settles, flowers bloom. Crossing The Line will also feature a video installation from artist Julian Charrière, And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire, exploring nature's powerful opposing elements, water and fire.

Festival Schedule

Gallery Presentation

And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire
Julian Charrière
Friday, September 8, 2023 (on view through Oct. 13)

Venue: FIAF Gallery, 22 E 60th Street, New York, NY 10022

French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière’s intriguing and often provocative work invites reflection on our engagement with the natural world. This video installation encapsulates his thoughts on tensions between modern societies and nature, in a powerful juxtaposition of opposing elements—water and fire.

DANCE
Trapped

 

Tatiana Desardouin
Friday, September 8 at 8pm

Venue: FIAF Florence Gould Hall, 55 E 59th Street, New York, NY 10022

Choreographer Tatiana Desardouin and Passion Fruit Dance Company bring their bold street and club dance styles to the stage, in an inspiring piece that shares the social and personal challenges faced by four women of different backgrounds.

DANCE
Les 5 Sens

Tatiana Desardouin
NY Premiere
Thursday, September 14 at 10pm

Venue: Top of the Standard Hotel, 848 Washington St. New York, NY 10014

Choreographer Tatiana Desardouin and artist Nubian Néné create a conceptual, all-night experience at famed roof-top venue, the Boom Boom Room. Featuring live music, dance, food, and drinks, this immersive performance engages all five senses in a welcoming club-culture refresh.

DANCE
Never Twenty One
 

Smaïl Kanouté
U.S. Premiere
Wednesday, September 27 at 7:30pm

Venue: FIAF Florence Gould Hall, 55 E 59th Street, New York, NY 10022

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement’s #Never21 hashtag, this deeply resonant piece by French-Malian choreographer/dancer Smaïl Kanouté pays tribute to young people of color who have lost their lives to gun violence before reaching the age of 21.

DANCE
Once the dust settles, flowers bloom

Olivier Tarpaga
NYC Premiere
Wednesday, October 3 - Sunday, October 8 (see link below for times)

Venue: The Joyce Theater, 175 8th Ave. New York, NY 10011

Olivier Tarpaga’s powerful work acknowledges the strength of more than one million refugees from Africa’s Burkina Faso and its Sahel region---Tarpaga's ancestral homeland---now settled in distant camps after fleeing violent jihadists.

THEATER
dSimon

Simon Senn & Tammara Leites
NY Premiere
Thursday, October 6 & Friday, October 7 at 7:30pm

Venue: FIAF Florence Gould Hall, 55 E 59th Street, New York, NY 10022

Swiss artist Simon Senn explores today’s most exciting and controversial technology, artificial intelligence. This timely story relates the creation of an AI entity with Senn's personality and personal data, and grapples with its transformation into an autonomous, disturbing, and yet familiar monster.

THEATER
Marilyn's Vertigo

Isabelle Adjani
North American Premiere
Friday, October 12 & Saturday, October 13 at 7:30pm

Venue: FIAF Florence Gould Hall, 55 E 59th Street, New York, NY 10022

This extraordinary homage to Marilyn Monroe is based on her final interview, two days before her death. Renowned French actress Isabelle Adjani, in a riveting solo stage performance, engages in a surreal dialogue with Monroe, exploring the complexities of stardom, identity, and legacy.