O Solitude, My Sweetest Choice!

O Solitude, My Sweetest Choice!
Curated by Shoghig Halajian
December 2-3, 2016 7PM

O Solitude, My Sweetest Choice!

A story about ourselves…
About what we are…
About our solitude!

A desire for an encounter…
A desire for sharing…
A desire for love!

Gently pushing…
Because in our time, we need more culture…
More dreams…

To not live alone!

– Radhouane El Meddeb

O solitude, my sweetest choice!
Places devoted to the night,
Remote from tumult and from noise,
How ye my restless thoughts delight!
O solitude, my sweetest choice!

O heav’ns! what content is mine
To see these trees, which have appear’d
From the nativity of time,
And which all ages have rever’d,
To look today as fresh and green
As when their beauties first were seen.

– Katherine Philips

Choreographer           :  Radhouane El Meddeb
Performers                   :  Liz Bustle, Andrew Pearson, Ryan Ruiz, Jil Stein, Pia Vinson
Music                               : Henry Purcell
Sound composition  :   Samuel Lamontagne

Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) presents O Solitude, My sweetest choice!, a dance performance by choreographer Radhouane El Meddeb. The project brings El Meddeb, originally from Tunisia and currently based in Paris, to Los Angeles for a residency to produce a site-specific new work in collaboration with Los Angeles based dancers. El Meddeb will be in residence at LACE from November 17-December 3, 2016, with a public presentation on December 2-3, 2016.

Performance is approximately 30 minutes will begin promptly at 7:30 PM, no late arrivals will be allowed inside. Performance is free and open to the public.

About Radhouane El Meddeb

Trained at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Art of Tunis, he is recognized as “The young hopeful of the Tunisian theatre” in 1996 by the Tunisian Section of the International Theatre Institute. He is, then, recruited as an actor within the training and research workshop of the National Theatre of Toulouse under the direction of Jacques Rosner. He also collaborates artistically with contemporary authors and as a movie actor, he appeared in two films by Férid Boughdir, Un Eté à la Goulette / A Summer at La Goulette and Halfaouine, l’Enfant des Terrasses / Halfaouine, The child of Terrace Roofs.

Throughout those years devoted to the theatre, he worked in the same time with Tunisian choreographers, as an interpreter and an artistic collaborator. Being quite fond of dancing, he is equally nurtured by classes directed by Lisa Nelson and Jean Laurent Sasportès in Europe.

Because he felt the need for an artistic experience other than the theatre, he signed for his first creation in 2005, a solo dance entitled Pour en finir avec MOI, as an intimate introspection and a vital experience. A real revelation that will make him go into dancing and become a choreographer-interpreter. This show has been identified by professionals, as a turning point in his career. Then, he signed several creations in France, beginning in the following year, with his solo dance Huwa, ce lui for Montpellier Danse 2006.

In 2007, he joined the casting of 1000 Départs de Muscles, a creation of Héla Fattoumi and Eric Lamoureux.

In 2008, he presented his creation Quelqu’un va danser… at the International Choreography Festival of Seine-Saint-Denis. In the same year, he created Je danse et je vous en donne à bouffer at the The National Dance Center in Pantin.

In 2010, he created his first group show, at the CND, Ce que nous sommes, with five dancers. In December 2010, he collaborated with Stéphane Gombert in Chant d’amour, a creation about a novel and a film by Jean Genet, which they performed at the Collectif 12, Mantes la Jolie. The creation process begun as early as 2009, at the Babel Theatre in Beirut, with the support of the French Cultural Center.

Starting from January 2011, Radhouane El Meddeb became an associate artist at the CENTQUATRE-PARIS. A l’Etroit is created there in March 2011, a creation initiated by the Festival concordan(s)e and in collaboration with Philip Adam. In the same year, he directed the performance Tunis, le 14 janvier 2011 at the Beirut Art Center in Lebanon on the occasion of the Meeting Point 6.

In July 2012, at the Montpellier Danse Festival, he created and danced the solo dance Sous leurs pieds, le paradis, whose choreographic composition is shared with Thomas Lebrun. In 2012, he is invited by Matias Pilet and Alexandre Fournier to choreograph the nouveau cirque duo Nos limites, created in 2013 at the CENTQUATRE-PARIS. In parallel with his creations, Radhouane El Meddeb is designated as a reporter for scenography, direction and choreography for the jury in charge of the selection of pensioners of the Villa Medicis for the years 2012 and 2013.

In 2014, he created a new group show Au temps où les Arabes dansaient… a performance for 4 dancers, within the International Festival CDC Toulouse and région Midi-Pyrénées and at the CENTQUATRE- PARIS.

In 2015, with the support of the National Monuments Centre and in the frame of the first edition of the event Monuments en Mouvements, Radhouane El Meddeb presented the premiere of Heroes, prelude, performance for 10 urban dancers, at Pantheon in Paris, which hosted contemporary dance for the first time. In June 2015, he’s invited by the College of Dance Biennale in Venice, he choreographed Nous serons tous étrangers at Campo San Trovaso, with Italian interpreters.

In 2016, Radhouane El Meddeb continues the work with interpreters of Heroes prelude. The premiere of this new creation called Heroes is presented at the Festival of Marseille – Dance and Arts Multiples 2016. He also creates the solo A mon père, une dernière danse et un premier baiser that is presented at Montpellier Danse 2016.

Dancers:

Liz Bustle has been training in Dance and Theatre since the age of three. She studied Modern Dance at The Ohio State University before moving to LA and earning her BFA from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Since, she’s been dancing and choreographing all over the city in commercials, on tv, and on the stage.

Andrew Pearson received his BFA’s in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of California, Irvine.  He is a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company where he has worked as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher.  He has had opportunities to perform and teach nationally and internationally including performances in Julien Previeux’s award-winning “What Will They Do Next”.  Andrew is the founder and facilitator of Contemporary Dance Practice: LA (www.CDP-LA.com).

Ryan Ruiz, originally from New Jersey and raised as a gymnast in California, he his dance training at the age of 17. He attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and received his BFA in Dance Theatre in 2014. He is a currently company member of LA Contemporary Dance Company. While dancing with LACDC, he has worked and performed with other companies such as Invertigo Dance Theatre, Hart Pulse Dance Company, Seamless Dance Theatre, Pearl The Show and Core Contemporary Dance. He is delighted to be moving, dancing, collaborating, and laughing with Radhouane and the other dancers.

Jil Stein is currently based in Los Angeles. Jil has an MA in Choreography and a Professional Diploma in contemporary dance performance from LABAN Institute, London. She is currently part of IRL studios at the Hammer and a company member of the Sunland Dancers.

Pia Vinson is a French choreographer & performer based in Los Angeles. She started her ballet, tap & contemporary dance training in Southern France. After working at the Opera National de Montpellier, she moved to NYC in 2011 to study at the Martha Gragham School of Contemporary Dance. Her repertory has been showcased at the Martha Graham Theater, WestFest Dance among other venues and festivals in NYC & France.

Sound Composer:

Samuel Lamontagne, in close relation to his ethnomusicology researches, he has also been composing music and sounds using computers and different electronic devices. He recently created an immersive soundscape for Le Festival de l’Imaginaire, organized by La Maison des Cultures du Monde. He is also part of the Collectif Ascidiacea. A Paris based collective, which presented works at Le Centquatre, Transient Festival, Le Dôme Festival and L’Espace Meraki among others. Ascidiacea is currently in résidence at Main D’Oeuvres in Paris.

Support

O Solitude, My Sweetest Choice! is made possible by The MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital, primarily supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funds come from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

This project is also supported by the Visual Artists Network, a program of the National Performance Network.

This project is generously supported by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.