"We are obsessed with the passage of time. Time gained, time wasted. Rather than drowning in a flavorless, solemn pathos, let us welcome you into our sweet madness. Behind our grey suits lie our unbridled excitement, joys, and sorrows. A man becomes a man the day he allows himself to be a child."

 

Exit shines a light on the deepest desires of three characters whose everyday lives leave no room for the slightest deviation from routine. When the curtain falls on their social lives, they awaken on stage. Taking common situations as a point of departure, Soria Rem and Mehdi Ouachek imagine surprising, totally zany outcomes. They focus their choreographic quest on fluidity of movement, seeking a balance between power and softness. Blending humor and frivolity, and pushing the imagination to the extreme, Exit is equally suitable for younger audiences and for the general public.

 

"There is a poetry and a musicality of the bodies that move around in space like the notes on a black-and-white piece of sheet music. Leading hip-hop dance toward sometimes very faraway worlds, Exit charms audiences with its originality and uniqueness."

Soria Rem and Mehdi Ouachek, originally from Seine et Marne region in France, met for the first time in 2002, marking the beginning of a great artistic adventure for the couple.

After working together for two years, Soria and Mehdi made a name for themselves in 2012 on the French TV show La Meilleure Danse on channel M6. They presented an innovative vision of dance they called Abstract, mixing their hip-hop technique with a contemporary fluidity and great sensitivity through movement. Their unique style won the acclaim of people working in the profession and the general public. Marie Agnès Gillot, Redha and Franco Dragone recognised their one-of-a-kind talent and their innovative, original dance technique.  Soria and Mehdi started touring as a duo for the first time as well as giving conferences and holding workshops. At the end of the year, the couple decided to set up the company Art Move Concept.

over the years, Soria and Mehdi have succeeded in establishing a form of dance that is their own, constantly changing and surprising the audience with their ingenuity in staging movement. Breaking the codes and the boundaries of hip-hop, and blending circus arts with mime and contemporary dance, their unique style of choreographic design is based on the pursuit of fluidity of movement, musicality of the body, and the emotion that emerges from them. Because “Abstract dance” isn’t just a style of dance; it entails an exposure of the self, beyond the physical performance that it requires.

 

Jackson Ntcham is a breakdancer specializing in power moves. He initially drew notice in the battle world with Phase T and Infamous Crew, winning a number of international competitions. His technical skill and natural performance style caught the attention of choreographers like Soria and Mehdi, Christine Coudun, and Kader Attou. He joined Art Move Concept in 2013 with Nibiru, then performed in Exit in 2017 andFli in 2018. He has also danced in Black Blanc Beur’s Chroniques du périmètre and, with Accrorap, Opus 14, Un break à Mozart, and Allegria. Jackson also teaches hip-hop dance to the younger generation.

 

A self-taught Russian dancer, Artëm Orlov comes from Ekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, at the border of Europe and Asia. He was seized by a passion for dance when he discovered breakdancing. He specializes in footwork. The victor in numerous battles in France and internationally, he settled in France in 2009.

He first joined the company S’Poart, then danced for choreographers Amine Boussa, Mathieu Furgé, Babacar Cissé, and Kader Attou, before joining Soria and Mehdi for Nibiru in 2013, then Exit in 2017 and Fli in 2018. In 2018, he founded his own company, Rodina, and choreographed his first piece, À l’intérieur de chez moi.

 

Mehdi discovers break dance in the 90's. He joins the Infamous crew with which he wins numerous competitions. He developed a very personal and technical style, which led him to choreograph his first creation in 2009: "Authentic Utopia" with Bruce Chiefare. He is an innovator by his singular approach of the dance that he manages to create by mixing different universes. It is recognized for example to practice the Full effect, based on the illusion of a body moving around on the ground weightlessly, with delicacy, fluidity, and precision.

In 2006 and 2007, he worked with the Beijing Circus and at the National Ballet of Florence.

In 2012, he collaborated with Andrés Marín and Kader Attou in the creation of Yatra as part of the Biennale d’art Flamenco at Chaillot. He was also Kader Attou’s assistant choreographer for the company Accrorap, in particular for its productions "The Roots", "Opus 14", "Un break à Mozart" and "Allegria".

 

Dancers: Jackson N tcham, Artëm Orlov, Mehdi Ouachek

Composer: Jean Du Voyage and additional songs

Lighting Design: Jean-Yves Desaint Fuscien

Production : Art Move Concept company

 

The year 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of Sino-French diplomatic relations, coinciding with the hosting of the Paris Olympic Games in France. This year, Breaking will officially debut as one of the competitive events at the Paris Olympics. To share this festive mood, Shanghai International Dance Center Theater has specially planned the "French Breaking Season" to present with our audience the innovative contemporary Breaking workpieces from France, the exploration of new forms of physical expression in fusion with Breaking and modern dance, the practice and breakthrough of breakdance in contemporary art. (The French Breaking Season is also included in the Festival Croisements 2024.)

Street dance in France is of no doubt a leading culture, and Breaking, as one of its signatures, has reached new heights from its original street culture. By absorbing and experimenting with elements from modern dance, it has been digging up new possibilities and increasingly gaining popularity among the masses.

From May 24th to June 3rd, within a short span of 11 days, SIDCT will present three distinctly styled French Breaking works, DOS AU MUR, Exit, and We Are Monchichi. Additionally, there will be Breaking workshops, lectures, and free open days. With the opening of French Breaking Season, we applaud the 60th anniversary of Sino-French diplomatic relations and share the exciting mood of the Paris Olympic Games.

The French Breaking Season is hosted by Shanghai International Dance Center Theater and supported by the Cultural Department of the Consulate General of France in Shanghai and Cypress Garden Hotel Shanghai.