BLACK DANCES MATTER

15-21 OCTOBER 2021

OPERA NICE FRENCH RIVIERA

CHAKA SOLOS from the Ballet
Created as part of the commemorations of the Bicentenary of the French Revolution at the Grand Palais des Champs Elysées on May 22, 1989 in Paris

Choreography Maurice Béjart
Popular music from Brazil and Ivory Coast
Texts by Léopold Sédar Senghor

Opening this program that pays tribute to black artists who have marked the history of dance, Chaka is a masterstroke by Maurice Béjart, signed in the middle of the celebration of the Bicentenary of the French Revolution (which unfortunately failed to make slavery disappear). Once again, the choreographer offers us through these few minutes that pass in a flash, a great moment of dance. Choosing King Chaka, founder of the Zulu kingdom, as his character, Béjart reconnects with his African origins. A decade earlier, he had already opened Mudra-Afrique in Dakar, honoring the memory of his Senegalese great-grandmother. On a text by Léopold Sédar Senghor, Béjart reminds dance of his "negritude", to use the words of another great author Aimé Césaire. At the same time, he offers her one of his most beautiful jewels.

Find all the programming of the Opera Nice Côte d'Azur on http://www.opera-nice.org