Three Premieres Come to New York Live Arts

 New York Live Arts (Live Arts) and L’Alliance New York’s Crossing The Line Festival will present the New York Premieres of Lenio Kaklea’s Αγρίμι (Fauve) October 9-11, Nadia Beugré’s Quartiers Libres revisited October 24-26, and Ismaël Mouaraki I Destins Croisés’s Le sacre de Lila November 8-9, at New York Live Arts (219 West 19th Street, New York, NY 10011). Stay Late Conversations will be moderated by Claudia La Rocca on October 10th and André M. Zachery on November 8th. All performances start at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $30 and can be purchased at NewYorkLiveArts.org or 212-924-0077, on sale now. More ticketing information below. 

In Αγρίμι (Fauve), dancer, choreographer, director and writer Lenio Kaklea meticulously choreographs a ‘rewilding of bodies’. Through on-stage exercises, dances and rituals, she explores the forest as a place – both physical and imaginary – for the dissolution of identities and the metamorphosis of bodies. Linking Kaklea’s choreographic creation to the geographical, environmental and poetic richness of the forests for the first time, Αγρίμι (Fauve) presents dance as another wild zone to be defended. Born in Athens, Greece, she is currently based in Paris, France, and a nominee for the 25th Pernod Ricard Foundation Award. Since 2009, Lenio Kaklea’s artistic practice uses a wide range of media including choreography, text and video - it remains informed by feminism and postcolonial critique.

Nadia Beugré’s Quartiers Libres (free rein) questions if there are spaces that we cannot go…that we do not have the right to explore, and what happens if we penetrate them. Twelve years after its premiere in France, Beugré returns to the Live Arts stage to revisit this emblematic solo by inviting two young artists from the Ivorian scene to explore these moving territories. Alongside sounds and piles of plastic bottles mingling with bodies, burying and concealing them, Quartiers Libres revisited persists to reveal those peculiar spaces we are trapped in, those forbidden places in which we choose to wander: spaces open to endless possibilities, spaces to submit and reveal. For a decade, Nadia Beugre’s pieces have been developing a very singular journey around margins, exclusion, what is outside, abnormal, a journey through shifting identities, be they social, cultural or gender-based.

Inspired by the Lila ceremonies, traditional mystical and musical celebrations of his native Morocco, Ismaël Mouaraki explores trance with a group of male dancers from Quebec and Morocco in his newest creation. Through them, the French-Moroccan-Canadian retraces his own journey before the eyes of the public. Meaning “night” in Arabic, a “Lila” is a set of nocturnal healing rituals that blends singing, dancing, and music, traditionally found in some North African countries. Mouaraki transposes the rites and codes of these dance rituals onto the stage, while infusing his signature contemporary street dance style to reveal the sensitivity and sensuality of the male body. Tinted with the tastes and colors of Morocco, the artists transform the performance into a celebration and exaltation of bodies that unfolds with an undeniable energy. Le sacre de Lila is a very personal project born from Mouaraki’s childhood memories in Maghreb. It reveals his deep connection to Morocco and the Arab world that is intertwined with evocations of France where he was born and Quebec where he grew up - three territories, rooted and embedded in his body. In 2023, the piece received the award for the best choreographic work at Prix de la Danse de Montréal, given by the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec. This highly symbolic work marks the 25 years of Ismaël Mouaraki's immigration and the 20 years of his company Destins Croisés.

Live Arts’ 14th season fully embodies the organization’s values: Question Everything, Inclusivity, Fierceness, Rigor, Change. L’Alliance New York’s 2024 Crossing The Line festival captures the expansive, trans-national interconnectedness of the francophone world through an array of visual art, discussion, film, and live performances. Live Arts’ onsite performance tickets start at a standard price of $30. Live Arts is proud to launch new community ticket pricing, allowing the public to choose a price that fits any budget. Limited “Pay-What-You-Wish” tickets are now available for all onsite events. To support this, Live Arts has introduced a "What-It-Really-Costs" ticket at $250, reflecting the true cost of a performance in NYC. Students and Seniors receive 20% off standard prices and $10 Student Rush tickets are available for any onsite show that is not sold-out.