ODC Theater Presents West Coast Debut of Compagnie Herve Koubi This Weekend

ODC Theater has announced that it will present the West Coast debut of Compagnie Hervé Koubi. The celebrated French-Algerian company kicks off ODC's 2016 season with What the Day Owes to the Night, a work of acrobatic dance for twelve men. Combining elements of capoeira, martial arts, urban and contemporary dance, What the Day Owes to the Night runs today and tomorrow, January 22 - 23 at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $30 and $45 and may be purchased online starting December 18 at odcdance.org/koubi.

French choreographer Hervé Koubi founded his self-named company in 2000, earning numerous accolades over the years. Next year marks his second tour to the U.S. with stops after San Francisco in Portland, Oregon; Dallas; Houston; and Jacob's Pillow in Massachusetts.

Inspired in part by the international bestselling novel of the same name, What the Day Owes to the Night also draws on the choreographer's own experience of divided consciousness as a Frenchman descended from Algerians: "I would like to give life to my dreams as a child born in France, and who discovered belatedly his true origins and those of his parents, Algerians from birth," writes Koubi in a program note.

Like the hero of Yasmina Khadra's novel, a boy sent from one family to live with another in colonial Algeria, Koubi embarks as an explorer of his own history, coming to terms with a range of orientalist fictions.

What the Day Owes to the Night was more than three years in the making. Koubi traveled to Algeria in 2009 to audition dancers, and the work finally premiered in France in January 2013 with an ensemble of eleven Algerians and one dancer from Burkina Faso.

"I was so impressed with Hervé Koubi's story and the company's dynamism and physical artistry," said ODC Deputy Director Christy Bolingbroke. "This is an exciting way to kick off our 2016 season and my fifth year at ODC."

For more information about ODC Theater's presentation of Compagnie Hervé Koubi, visit odcdance.org/koubi.

ABOUT COMPAGNIE HERVÉ KOUBI

Of Algerian origin, French choreographer Hervé Koubi founded his company in 2000 with the creation of an evening-length dance titled Le Golem. Since then he has collaborated with Guillaume Gabriel on all of his works. The company has also collaborated with musicians such as Laetitia Sheriff, contemporary authors like Chantal Thomas, filmmakers including Max Vadukul and Yoji Yamamoto, as well as a collective of dancers from the Ivory Coast. Since 2010, the company has toured two works, El Din and Ce que le jour doit à la nuit (What the Day Owes to the Night), with twelve African dancers.

Koubi earned a doctorate in pharmacology and clinical biology at the same time as he studied dance, first in Cannes at the Rosella Hightower International Center for Dance, then at the Opéra de Marseille. In 1999 he joined the Centre Chorégraphique National de Nantes for the creation of Hôtel Central (2000). He has continued to accept invitations to teach and choreograph with other dance makers in France, Mexico and the Ivory Coast.

ABOUT ODC THEATER

ODC Theater participates in the creation of new works through commissioning, presenting, mentorship and space access; it develops informed, engaged and committed audiences; and it advocates for the performing arts as an essential component to the region's economic and cultural development. The Theater is the site of over 120 performances a year involving nearly 1,000 local, regional, national and international artists.

Since 1976, ODC Theater has been the mobilizing force behind countless San Francisco artists and the foothold for national and international touring artists seeking debut in the Bay Area. The Theater, founded by Brenda Way and currently under the direction of Christy Bolingbroke, has earned its place as a cultural incubator by dedicating itself to creative change-makers, those leaders who give the Bay Area its unmistakable definition and flare. Nationally known artists Spaulding Gray, Diamanda Galas, Molissa Fenley, Bill T. Jones, Eiko & Koma, Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, Ban Rarra and Karole Armitage are among those whose first San Francisco appearance occurred at ODC Theater.

For more information about ODC and all of its programs visit odcdance.org.

Photo Credit: Didier Philispart

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