French hip-hop choreographer brings his work to Beijing

The Roots will be staged at the People's Liberation Army Opera House on May 23. [Photo/ pla-theater.com]

Athina, the first work of the group, was a smashing success at the 1994 Lyon Biennale. Its unique and flawless mix of hip-hop, acrobatics and classic dance moves earned them their first world tour offer.

In 1996, the group created Kelkem, a dance show about refugee children’s lives and thoughts, based on Attou’s travel experience at a Zagreb refugee camp.

“I love to travel. I love to talk with different people in different countries, listen to their stories, and observe their lives as well as their dance. It’s hard to say which country is my favorite, because my focus is always on people instead of scenery,” he said.

In 2000, Attou went to his ancestral home country, Algeria, which greatly inspired the group. They created Priere Pour un Fou (Prayer for a Crazy Man), a mixture of traditional elements of North African Gnawa culture with hip-hop. The show won praise from the New York Times.

“I like to learn the history of dance, and travel experience always gives me inspiration. When I travel in India, I saw a Kathak dance (a folk dance in Northern India) show, and found in a surprise that it was quite similar to flamenco in Spain. Later, I read in a book that it might be related to migration moves of Gypsies. To me, learning all these is really enjoyable,” he said.