The jungle is a new and infinite territory, where the possible has another meaning, or perhaps none. From which side can we enter the jungle, to taste this dream?
Premiering at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Mowgli is the new creation of Iranian artist Sorour Darabi. The starting point of their work is the very title, taken from a recent song from French-rap-duo PNL, where the reference to the jungle denounces the still-used projection of wildness onto the body of young citizens with translocal background. And yet the image of the jungle also invites to be re-appropriated from the inside: the possibility of inventing a different law, opposed to the one of the city. Set in the obscurity of a fictional night, each appearance in Mowgli is a wild experience: choreography, poetry, storytelling, The Jungle Book, the lyrics of Iranian singer Googoosh and the ones of PNL. Through them, Sorour Darabi constructs a collection – or almost an album – of lived and fantasized stories, crossing the themes of chosen family, melancholy and urban legends. Step by step, Sorour Darabi transforms the stage into a jungle, and the jungle into a playground for the self. Becoming wild is a political project.
55 min
English → FR, NL
Presentation: Kunstenfestivaldesarts & Beursschouwburg
Conception, choreography, interpretation: Sorour Darabi | Dramaturgy: Pauline Le Boulba, Soto Labor | Light creation: Jean-Marc Ségalen | Sound creation: Elena Tissier | External viewpoint: Mathieu Bouvier | With the participation of: Tarek Lakhrissi, Ndayé Kouagou | Production: Kunstenfestivaldesarts | Delegated production: Météores | Commissioned by Kunstenfestivaldesarts in coproduction with Alkantara, Sophiensaele, Tanzquartier Wien, workspacebrussels, WP Zimmer, Theater Frascati, Teatro Di Roma, Kaserne Basel, Spielart theaterfestival Munich, Kunstencentrum Buda, Spedidam, Fonds Transfabrik – Fonds franco-allemand pour le spectacle vivant | Supported by: Les Subsistances, Centre national de la danse, La Briqueterie – CDCN du Val-de-Marne, L’Échangeur – CDCN Hauts-de-France, Le Pacifique – CDCN Grenoble Auvergne Rhône Alpes, Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers, Centre national de danse contemporaine ANGERS, Montévidéo/Centre d’Art, Kunstwerkplaats Pianofabriek | Performances in Brussels with the support of the French Institute, the French Embassy in Belgium and The Alliance Française, in the frame of EXTRA 2020
With the support of the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Goethe-Institut.
Photo © Marcella Ruiz-Cruz
