Memory, the body’s archive, constantly returns in the work of Lebanese choreographer and dancer Bassam Abou Diab, who examines the movements of the captive body. How do we react when suddenly deprived of freedom and movement? What are our mechanisms of defence and resistance? These questions inhabit the piece Pina, My Love, which is infused by his relationship with the spiritual and his ritual practice. On stage, he explores what the body, tested by isolation, does to survive, to preserve its vital movements - breathing, heartbeats. While incorporating folklore and traditional Lebanese dance, his work is always stripped-down, all the better to express his thoughts and convey the unsayable. To create a link between reality, what is visible, and what is hidden: prison, torture, violence. The strength of Bassam Abou Diab's performances and Ali Hout’s music lies in their profound belief in art as the only means to help humanity overcome its moral and physical suffering. Pina, My Love and Under the Flesh are cathartic acts of resistance against powerlessness: they are about "dancing and dreaming to survive the pain."
Les représentations à Marseille reçoivent le soutien de l’Institut français du Liban.
