Allegoria Stanza is the creation that granted French choreographer Abou Lagraa artistic maturity. His sixth piece since founding the La Baraka company in 1997, Allegoria Stanza embodies a perfect alchemy: blending sky and earth, human and nature, as well as contemporary dancers and hip-hop dancers seamlessly integrated by Abou Lagraa in this work conceived in 2002 and never before seen in Italy. Abou Lagraa, born in 1970 in Annonay, France, to an Algerian father and an Egyptian mother, began dancing at the age of sixteen. His training started in Lyon, where he also began his dance career before joining Rui Horta's S.O.A.P. Dance Theater Frankfurt and working with Denis Plassard, Lionel Hoche, and Robert Poole.
In 1997, he co-founded La Baraka with Aurélia Picot, a company currently based at Bonlieu Scène Nationale d’Annecy, where Lagraa is an associated artist. He has created numerous works for the company including the solo Les 2 (1998), group works Violatus (1998), Kraft (1999), Passage (2000), Nuit Blanche (2000), Cutting Flat (2004), and the recent Où Transe (March 2005), consisting of a solo, a duet, and a quartet. Winner of the second prize at the International Competition of the City of Paris in 1998, Lagraa has also designed two défilés for the Lyon Biennale and the choreography Fly Fly for the Centre Chorégraphique National - Ballet de Lorraine in 2001.
Of his entire artistic trajectory, Allegoria Stanza stands out as the most significant piece, acclaimed by critics for its compositional and directorial achievements. In this work, all elements of spectacle are seamlessly fused together. The ten dancers, seven trained in contemporary dance and three from a hip-hop background, are masterfully integrated. The choreography elegantly intersects with meticulously crafted nature video images by Charles Picq, a master in the genre. The musical collage, absorbing Arabic sounds, chants, and percussion along with Western techno music, is executed flawlessly. The overall orchestration blends differences, highlighting each dancer’s contribution to the choreography, enriching the work with richness and originality.
Allegoria Stanza unfolds with a play of ebb and flow, an image, a poetic phrase, an undefined wave that captivates and fascinates, drawing viewers into a contemplative state.
