“The Roots is an ode to the fabulous 30-year history of hip hop dance. 30 years since Sidney’s show, 30 years of maturity. The Roots redraws the contours of this dance both in its virtuosity and in its poetics of the body”.
Kader Attou
“Over twenty years, my dance approach has been sculpted from the grinding and blending of various aesthetics – hip hop, Indian kathak, contemporary dance. I believe the key in this process is to build bridges, create links and some sort of dialogue beyond / through difference. This search has lead me to try and distinguish what transpires from body as opposed to emotion. How – from a specific technique, a mechanical gesture, a simple hint – with virtuosity such a feeling is born. This questioning is a founding feature of The Roots.
First and foremost, The Roots is a human adventure, a journey enacted by eleven exceptional hip-hop dancers. Chapter after chapter, the actual performance transforms, opens up new horizons and brings the spectator elsewhere. This universe consists of ordinary settings, a table… a crackling vinyl record on a turntable, childhood memories. Music plays a crucial part, stirring and calling for the unity of dancers. Brahms, Glazounov, electro music… all these melodies open doors to a dancing mankind.
This creation digs into one’s history, each dancer with their strengths and their own path. Starting from their unique style honed over the years, I initiate a journey from the roots towards bodies’ memory. The Roots represent the rewards of this quest: drawing from the generosity of this dance in order to discover new paths.”
Kader Attou
“It’s a blast! Pure hip hop! The vitality of The Roots, choreographed for eleven men by Kader Attou, explodes in your face like a shaken can of soda. Here it comes – a sparkling stream, a bubbling flow, in constant motion transforming the stage into a landscape of geysers in ceaseless activity.”
Rosita Boisseau – LE MONDE
“The eleven dancers that are the bearers of The Roots, plus Kader Attou, form a sort of chorus from which individuals emerge, each one as interesting as the next, as each has his own style, his own physique, and his own technical specificities. (…) Pure delight!”
Marie-Christine Vernay – LIBÉRATION
“Kader Attou’s The Roots is an hour and a half of choreographic bliss, performed by superb dancers, bursting with generosity and sculpted by dazzlingly elegant writing!”
Martine Pullara – LYON CAPITALE
“Spectacular and poetical, both innovative and nostalgic, hip hop appears to us in all its splendour. Kader Attou delivers a masterly ode to hip hop.”
Coralie Febvre – AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
2023
21, 22, 23, 24 September
Bangkok’s 25th International Festival of Dance & Music
2025
24 April
Menton, Theatre Francis Palmero
Cie Accrorap
Direction Kader Attou
Création 2013
January 2013 at La Coursive – Scène Nationale de La Rochelle
Choreographic work for 11 dancers
Dates
2025
24 April
Menton, Theatre Francis Palmero
