words rachel mok photos yves petit

For once Kader Attou and Accrorap are not stirring up the social cauldron with their latest work.

He’s a breaker – but as much as that may imply Kader Attou is a hip-hop sensation, it also describes what he does to boundaries. Raised in Saint-Priest, southeast of Lyon, Attou is of Algerian origin and started his own dance group at the age of 15. Little did he then know that he, a hip-hop street dancer, would become the director of the National Choreographic Centre of La Rochelle and win 1st prize at last summer’s Mime Festival of Perigueux. The winning work was his latest – Little Stories.com – but Attou’s own not-so-little dance story started when he was training in a small circus school as a teenager.

‘I discovered hip-hop dance on TV with a group of friends – that’s how we came up with the idea of inventing an original dance that would intertwine acrobatics and hip-hop – and so created the Accrorap group.’ That was in 1989, but Attou and his friends Mourad Merzouki and Eric Mezino were not content only to play with hip-hop as a dance form, they wanted to use it as a medium for social commentary.

‘We all felt concerned. In France, at that time, there was an increasing awareness of a certain social discrimination. Poor populations were relegated to living in “undesirable” outskirt areas and young people could be tempted into delinquency,’ recalls the choreographer. ‘Hip-hop was a positive way to keep young people busy and to provide a new image of these districts.’ And so each of Accrorap’s works has its own political context: Kelkemo is dedicated to the children of Zagreb refugees, M’Panandro grew out of a collaboration with artists from Maghred during tension between the North African region and the French government, in Anokha – a French-Indian cultural clash – street grooves meet traditional Indian dance and Douar explores issues faced by Algerian exiles.

Little Stories.com may be the exception as it hails more from Attou’s own personal experiences – not all his works do. The 2003 piece Dour, for instance, started out as a cultural cooperation project. ‘First we had to train Algerian hip-hop dancers and then create a show with both French and Algerian artists. It was immediately evident that we would have to deal with the confrontation of French and Algerian realities and more specifically the issues of boredom and identity crisis provoked by the social situation,’ he explains.

By that time, the group had already realized the global significance of the dance medium they had made their own. Although hip-hop originated in the United States, it had travelled the world and many countries, like France, had adapted it for their own purposes and culture. ‘In 1994 and 1995 we went to give workshops in Croatia during the war. That’s how we realized that hip-hop is a universal language. Then our first shows toured in India, Brazil, Morocco, which led to very strong encounters: today in some projects of the company there are Indian, Algerian, Brazilian dancers. Dance is a tool that enables dialogue, by creating a common language for everyone. Hip-hop has developed specificities on all continents and it is very interesting to discover and confront them. When I am collaborating with non-European dancers – Indian dancers, for example – I am looking for convergences of energy.’

Though he talks about dance as a universal language, that doesn’t mean everyone is a global citizen in Attou’s eyes. ‘We foster dialogue between cultures, and dance is our main tool for this purpose. The concept of a “global village” exists for sure but only for those who are capable of dialogue. To avoid a standardized and uniform world, we have to oppose the cultural impoverishment that could be brought by globalization, and to listen to each other, so that cultures can be enriched by our encounters. We have to foster the notion of “respect”.’

Little Stories.com may lack the bite of social comment but it offsets that with an exploration of Attou’s own biography and humour – the dance theatre work grew out of the story of his upbringing in the south of France. ‘“Dot com” is a way to set this show in our time, a time when everything goes so fast,’ he says. ‘It aims to say that even through this current jumping from one thing to another very quickly, we can take the time to create something, to build sense.’ And so, as he told his story, he also asked each of his dancers to dig into childhood memories, choose one and build a character around it. With the help of a theatre director, the company then created a production of linked histories, using simple objects – a feather, a butterfly, a sofa – for a witty and expressive coming together for their journey in search of freedom. They dance down memory lane to the music of JS Bach and a TV news jingle, the themes of French composer Yann Tiersen and electronic musicians Four Tet and Aphex Twin, also the poetic Tom Waits and Icelandic post-rocker Sigur Ros.

On September 8, 2008, Attou was appointed to direct the National Choreographic Centre of La Rochelle. It was a big step in the official recognition of hip-hop culture, though to Attou the question of whether street culture should be nurtured by the government is a non-issue. ‘French context is very specific. There is a strong cultural tradition: the government is not only involved in patrimony but also in innovation, by helping emergent forms of art. Hip-hop could develop in this context. We cannot say hip-hop has been promoted by authorities,’ he explains, ‘but things are built in a subtle dialectic between ‘exploitation’ and ‘autonomy’. Thanks to public policies in the 1990s, a dialogue between so called ‘erudite’ and ‘popular’ cultures could give birth to this dance form that is today recognized by the dance world.’

His promotion hasn’t significantly affected his own choreographic work but it has meant an enhanced awareness of what he can – and perhaps should – accomplish. ‘It is easier indeed today to organize rehearsals because I have a large dance studio at my disposal to practise with the company. But there is a main difference for sure in term of status. I will try to listen to everything happening in terms of hip-hop dance and I will do my best to support young choreographers, to help them progress in their work and become known by a larger audience. This is a responsibility I am giving myself.’

Little Stories.com will be staged at HKAPA Drama Theatre on June 9 and 10 at 8pm. Tickets are $250, $200 and $150 from HK Ticketing,
31 288 288.