Under the leadership of the Créteil Choreographic Center, the dancer and choreographer breathes new life into contemporary creations.
The intensity of Mehdi Kerkouche’s sign language is reflected in the admirable and unusual career of an Algerian-born artist who does not fit into any box. A hip-hop dancer and choreographer, he started at MJC and landed at the Paris Opera in 2020 with a piece commissioned by Aurélie Dupont. His dance works continue to cross boundaries, mixing pop and modern dance. At the head of his company, he experienced an amazing media explosion on social networks. At the age of 36, he was appointed director of the CCN (Centre chorégraphique National) in Crete, and also presented a work at the Chaillot National Theatre.
Madame Figaro.– What is your mission as director of CCN de Créteil?
Mehdi Kerkuce. – My bet is to democratize dance, make it accessible to everyone. The National Choreographic Centers (nineteen in France) have existed for over forty years and are above all places of creation. My mission is to support the projects of established and emerging choreographers.
How did you discover dance?
I grew up in Rueil-Malmaison, near Paris. At home, my brothers listened to rap, my mother to Arabic music. I started dancing from a very young age. I couldn’t hold my breath, and my mother enrolled me in a modern jazz dance school when I was 6 years old. I dropped out after four years due to the outrageous cost of the course. I continued on my own, trained with videos of Michael Jackson and Madonna. I resumed my dance studies at the age of 15 at MJC in my hometown.
When did you switch from interpretation to choreography?
I was already teaching dance in the courtyards of buildings in my city. I started my first company at the age of 16. I started auditioning in Paris and left school at 17 to pursue dance full time. Since I had no plan B, I had to succeed. I did musicals and became the choreographer for Christina and the Queens. One day I got tired of creating for others. I started my own company, AMK, with which I performed my first piece at the Tokyo Palace, titled: Dabkeh, a tribute to Middle Eastern dance and its syncretism.
I was already teaching dance in the courtyards of buildings in my city. I started my first company at the age of 16
Mehdi Kerkuche
During the health crisis, you were at the beginning we dance to you an initiative that brought together dancers and choreographers around the public. Say…
I was a caged lion. I then created a choreography where each dancer in my group filmed a part of their body moving on the screen. The totality of the images formed one body dancing in space. I uploaded the video and it got a million views within twenty four hours. So I organized the On danse chez vous festival; a dance marathon that gathered seventy dancers on Instagram to perform from 9am to midnight. We raised €15,000 for carers and I received a thank you from Brigitte Macron. I continued the festival and will start the fourth edition in May.
On Video This dance video by Mehdi Kerkuce and his troupe will get you off the couch
After discovering your work in 2020, Aurelie Dupont commissioned you to create for the Palais Garnier…
He commissioned me a piece from the Paris Ballet for ten dancers, And if Due to the second detention, we had to play it without an audience. We were the first to broadcast a show of this scale on social networks.
What do you have to do with classical dance?
It’s disappointing to me that I haven’t been able to use this knowledge that has been acquired since childhood. But there are more and more bridges between classical, contemporary and hip-hop, as well as new dances such as cramp and tight.
There are more and more bridges between classical, contemporary and hip-hop
Mehdi Kerkuche
Modern dance has evolved into a more organic language…
He was getting too detached from that feeling. Today’s modern dance, pioneered two decades ago by choreographers such as Ohad Naharin and Hofesh Schechter, allows for less cerebral fluidity.
Are you inspired by this (La)Horde that thrives on collaborations with dancers found on social media?
Absolutely. Like the founders of (La)Horde, I am convinced that social networks are a great asset for art. Theaters have seen this passage of time as a dire threat, fearing that the virtual dimension will prevent the public from attending performances. This is not so. The public, who discovered my work on social networks, came to see all my programs.
What will your new work at Shiloh National Theater tell?
I was looking for a theme that would allow me to have many different dancers on stage. I staged nine performers between the ages of 19 and 70. The room is named Portrait and revolves around the theme of family and the intimate core.
Modern dance was the first discipline to change the way we look at gender fluidity. Does this topic inspire you?
I’m a kid from the suburbs, I have an Algerian name and I’m gay. I tick all the boxes. For all the battles we fight about gender, I can’t imagine a dance company that isn’t heterosexual. I want the society to be able to recognize itself not only in terms of gender, but also in terms of age. At 70, the body is not dead. He asks to exist, but society condemns him to exile. terrible. The artists in my company refuse to define themselves by age, gender identity, height and weight. My company is a compliment of nuance.
My company is a compliment of nuance
Mehdi Kerkuche
What are the benefits of dancing?
Dance is a happy pill, its use produces endorphins. Everyone knows how to dance. Just close your eyes, follow the music and let yourself go. All steps are allowed, and clumsy gestures are the most beautiful. They are traces of our energy. Fireflies. We don’t see enough volcanoes anymore and we really need these little guides to light up our nights. So let’s dance!
Source: Le Figaro
