Feature: NÄSS at Harbourfront Centre

This year’s Harbourfront’s TORQUE dance series opens October 26-28 with Fouad Boussouf’s NÄSS (Arabic for “people”), inspired by his childhood in Morocco and revolutionary Moroccan musicians Nass el Ghiwane. A high energy, athletic performance by seven male dancers, the show includes elements of hip-hop, electronica, and contemporary African music. BroadwayWorld spoke to Boussouf about the history and inspiration behind the piece, its world travels before reaching Toronto, and its and ever-changing, improvisational nature.

In creating NÄSS, Boussouf was interested in the constant “tension” of the streets of Morocco, which he says is felt for 23 hours a day, only evaporating between 4 and 5am. It’s not violent tension, he explains, but the tension of something always about to happen. The seven male dancers represent that, in the streets, “it’s only men.” This energy of the new contrasts with Marrakesh’s age as a city; Boussouf describes it as “ancient,” a thousand years within its borders, presided over by the same line of kings. He compares the energy to what he remembers from childhood, creating a state of “childness.” For inspiration, he says, he sits back with a coffee to soak in his surroundings, observing what’s happening. However, he points out, it’s equally important to “observe the observers”—those who are also watching.

In that vein, Boussouf’s inspiration comes from some crucial observers, the 1970s Maghreb Moroccan group Nass el Ghiwane, and its connection with social movements and the life of Morocco. The band’s performers’ artistic beginnings came from avant-garde theatre, and their music, Boussouf contends, is reminiscent of the nomadic news reporters who would come from town to town spreading information about the king and what was going on outside the town’s borders.

The band observed the society around them and wanted to reflect it in its entirety. While Nass El Ghiwane were associated with inspiring rebellion and riots in Moroccan youth, Boussouf describes the goal of their music not as a protest, but as a “full reflection” of all the joys and frustrations of Moroccan society, from its corruption and violence to its energy and poetry. Described both as anti-establishment and nationalistic, shaping the consciousness of a nation, they still got into legal trouble, partially because of the massive size of their following. Boussouf connects their charged lyrics and passionate rhythms with the history of rap and hip-hop, beginning with ‘80s groups like Public Enemy. His work arises organically from the musicians he collaborates with, as they “test the rhythm.”

“We find the beats are the same,” he says of the disparate genres that form the score of his work.

The first Moroccan band to incorporate Western instruments like the banjo, Nass el Ghiwane came into the public eye outside of Northern Africa more recently when the restored version of their 1981 documentary Trances was picked by Martin Scorsese, who had used the band’s song “Ya Sah” in The Last Temptation of Christ, for the World Cinema Foundation’s inaugural release. It was subsequently screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

Boussouf describes the state of contemporary North African dance as robust but not structured; people are constantly dancing as an activity, but it’s not seen as a profession. He never envisioned becoming a choreographer in his youth. Similarly, NÄSS, while built around a structure, contains a lot of room for improvisation based on what the dancers are feeling. Boussouf describes it as a very different piece now than it was five years ago, but one that is always very energetic and very physical.

As a dance piece with some history, the performance of NÄSS is connected to a masterclass Bousouf and one of his dancers, Yanice Djae, are giving on the 28th about its background and choreography. They’ll take interested participants through the development and progression of the show. Boussouf speaks fondly about his personal connection with Djae, which started a decade ago when Boussouf taught his first dance class to middle school students. He was impressed by the passion and talent that one student showed, and brought him to the conservatory. The rest, as they say, is history. Boussouf has enjoyed seeing Djae’s abilities and leadership as a dancer grow over the past ten years, and is excited to be presenting a masterclass with his “first student.”

He’s also excited to open this season of Torque, his company’s first performance of the work in Canada. But he’s toured NÄSS worldwide, and has been impressed at the reception it’s received, from France (where he has lived since 1983) to the US to China — all different cultures and people have found the dance resonates. He fondly remembers a trip to Poland, where he worried about stereotypes of coldness and reserve, but he found an immediate connection with audiences there; “they really got into it,” he says, bringing an exciting energy into the room. He credits it to “BPM,” or beats per minute, the synchronization of heartbeats that occurs when people experience dance and music together.

Dance comes from the heart, he says, and the technique comes later to surround it.

Photo by Charlotte Audureau

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