RACHID OURAMDANE / Compagnie de Chaillot

On crossroads between a documentary and a dream world, Corps extrêmes (Extreme Bodies) unfolds boundless practices – sportive or artistic – in a sophisticated hybrid stage setting, highlighting the utter sensitivity depicted by those involved. Originally Corps extrêmes manifests the desire, expressed by Rachid Ouramdane, to be “really focused on the fascination triggered by the wish to take-off, to drift, a state of weightlessness, a suspension…” Two emblematic accomplices who dedicate themselves to the practice of extreme sports –a highliner and a climber– are on stage, far from their habitual playgrounds, with eight acrobats.

At the age of twelve, Rachid Ouramdane discovered dance through hip-hop. He also took intensive courses in classical and modern dance. In the early 1990s, he dropped out of his studies in biology to devote himself fulltime to dance and joined the Centre national de danse contemporaine in Angers. As a performer and choreographer, he has worked with Meg Stuart, Odile Duboc, Hervé Robbe, Alain Buffard, Christian Rizzo, Julie Nioche and Emmanuelle Huynh. Rachid Ouramdane’s creations are often marked by the seal of testimony and intimate experience (refugee children, victims of torture or natural disasters, amateur athletes, etc.) from which he weaves a structured choreography. Rachid Ouramdane collaborates with Circus artists (Compagnie XY), authors (Pascal Rambert, Sonia Chiambretto), visual artists (Nicolas Floch’ and Mehdi Meddaci), and musicians (Jean-Baptiste Julien and Alexandre Meyer) for his own creations as well as for commissioned works and workshops. With an ambitious project based on diversity and hospitality, he has been director of Compagnie de Chaillot since April 2021.

Conception Rachid Ouramdane / Music Jean-Baptiste Julien / Video Jean-Camille Goimard / Lighting Stephane Graillot / Costumes Camille Panin / Stage manager Sylvain Giraudeau / Cast Joël Azou, Nina Caprez, Tamila De Naeyer, Clotaire Fouchereau, Chloé Frappat, Charlie Hession, Nathan Paulin, Maxime Seghers, Seppe Van Looveren, Owen Winship / Choreography assistant Mayalen Otondo / Sound coordination Laurent Lechenault / Technical coordination Sylvain Giraudeau / Light coordination Stéphane Graillot / Tour coordination Juliette Bones
Production Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse /  With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels / Coproduction CCN2 – Centre choregraphique national de Grenoble; Bonlieu Scene nationale Annecy; Theatre de la Ville – Paris; Festival Montpellier Danse 2021; L’Estive – Scene nationale de Foix et de l’Ariege; Le Bateau Feu – Scene nationale de Dunkerque; Le Carreau – Scene nationale de Forbach; MC2: Grenoble; Theatre Moliere – Sete; Scene nationale Archipel de Thau; Le Theatre Scene nationale de Saint-Nazaire / Thanks to Patricia Minder, Xavier Mermod, Guillaume Broust, Romain Cocheril / With the technical support of Espace Vertical and Music Plus Grenoble / With the support of MC93 – Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis