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«Epique! (for Yikakou)»
Nadia Beugré

Dance

«Epique! (for Yikakou)» takes the audience on a mysterious journey to a village devoured by the forest, accompanied by collective memories and the voices of powerful, often forgotten women.

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  • Thu 02/10 20:00

    Following the performance, there will be a discussion with Nadia Beugré and Mona-Lisa Kole.

    Halle Ost

  • Fri 03/10 20:00

    Halle Ost

Copyright: Werner Strouven

In her latest solo, Ivorian choreographer Nadia Beugré takes us to Yikakou, the village of her father and her two grandmothers, a mysterious village that no longer exists because its fields are considered cursed. Devoured by the forest, Yikakou has become a ghost of memory – fertile ground for myth, longing, and the legacy of ancestors.

At the centre of the journey is the magnanimous figure who gave Nadia Beugré her name: Gbahihonon: “the woman who says what she sees”, a woman of strong character and great knowledge who protected the small community from attacks and could predict the fate of newborns.

The journey in «Epique! (for Yikakou)» follows in the footsteps of other powerful, often forgotten women, such as Dô-Kamissa, who – unjustly treated by her brother – turned into a buffalo to ravage his land. Amidst these voices, between collective memories, rituals, and intimate retrospectives, Nadia Beugré is accompanied by performer and musician Charlotte Dali on stage and  by the stories and the sounds of the female griot Salimata Diabate, who both echo her story and bear witness to it.

Information on accessibility and language

  • Not language-based

Talk

After the performance on 02.10., there will be a talk with Nadia Beugré and Mona-Lisa Kole (activist and expert on discrimination topics).

Trailer

Plain language

  • Epique is French.
    It is pronounced epik.
    In English, it means heroic.

    Nadia Beugré presents a dance piece about her village, Yikakou.
    Yikakou is located on the Ivory Coast in Africa.
    The village no longer exists.
    Only ghosts remain there.
    The piece is about Nadia Beugré's grandmother.
    She is a very clever woman.
    Many clever and powerful women appear in the story.
    Nadia Beugré dances alone.
    Two musicians play instruments.

About the artists

  • Born in Ivory Coast, Nadia Beugré made her first appearance in 1995 as a member of the Dante Theatre. Two years later, she became a founding member of Béatrice Kombé’s groundbreaking, all-female dance ensemble TchéTché, with whom she toured for years to critical acclaim across Africa, Europe and North America. Following a training at Germaine Acogny’s Ecole des sables in Senegal, she joined in 2009 Ex.e.r.ce., Mathilde Monnier’s programme for talented, up-and-coming choreographers at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier. She was soon staging productions of her own, including the still-touring solo Quartiers libres ('Free Reigns') in 2012. Her first group piece, Legacy premiered at the La Bâtie festival in Geneva in 2015 and has also been performed at the Festival d'Automne à Paris, among other events. After Tapis Rouge (2017) and Roukasskaas Club (2019), Beugré presented L’Homme rare (2020), an all-male quintet performance. In 2023 came the duo Filles-Pétroles and the quintet Prophétique (on est déjà né.es), two pieces that paint a portrait of Ivorian youth on fire. Beugré also performs in works by fellow choreographers, such as Seydou Boro, Alain Buffard, Dorothée Munyaneza, Bernardo Montet, Boris Charmatz and in 2022 Robyn Orlin. She is associate artist of ICI CCN de Montpellier Occitanie (2023-2024). In 2023, she was awarded the SACD prize for New Choreographic Talent. Nadia Beugré has founded her own company in Montpellier with Virginie Dupray. Libr'Arts is a platform for production, touring and training between France and Côte d'Ivoire.

Credits

  • Artistic direction and performance:
    Nadia Beugré
    Performance and Live Music:
    Salimata Diabate
    Dramaturgy:
    Kader Lassina Touré
    Scenography:
    Jean-Christophe Lanquetin
    Original music:
    Lucas Nicot, Charlotte Dali
    Light:
    Paulin Ouedraogo
    Production:
    Virginie Dupray
    Coproduced by:
    Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Bruxelles, Charleroi danse - Centre chorégraphique national de la fédération Wallonie Bruxelles, Montpellier Danse, in residence at the cité internationale de la danse

Supported by

  • Fondation BNP Paribas, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Theater Freiburg, Centre chorégraphique national de Caen en Normandie, in the framework of the 2025 Accueil Studio programme / Ministry of Culture, ICI - Centre chorégraphique national de Montpellier Occcitanie / Direction Christian Rizzo dans le cadre du dispositif artiste associé

Copyright: Werner Strouven

Copyright: Werner Strouven

Copyright: Werner Strouven

Copyright: Werner Strouven

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