Announcing the 2024 FUSED Grantees

Prophétique is a 2023 dance performance created by Ivory Coast born and raised, France-based choreographer Nadia Beugré.  

Drawing on years of research and work in Abidjan, this piece explores the everyday lives of the city’s transfeminine community. “Assigned as boys, they are navigating between genders with a fierce freedom in a very patriarchal society that, at best, pretends not to see them. Hairdressers by day, dance floor divas by night, they live both exposed and underground, flowing from parallel circuits to solidarity networks and invent their own dances which, mixing voguing and coupé/décalé, make the nights of Abidjan…” Performed by a mixed company of professional and non-professional dancers, Prophétique traces the everyday lives of its subjects to discover a new vocabulary of movement that interrogates “assignations and roles in the family, in  society, in history, the roles you are given and those you take”. 

© Werner Strouven

Inspired by Lila’s ceremonies and traditional mystical and musical celebrations of his native Morocco, Canada-based French choreographer Ismaël Mouaraki’s new creation, Le Sacre de Lila, explores trances with a group of male dancers from Quebec and Morocco. Through them, he traces his own journey before the eyes of the public.  

In Arabic, lila means “night”. These ceremonies constitute a set of nocturnal healing rituals combining singing, dancing, and music, traditionally seen in some Maghreb countries. Ismaël transposes the rites and codes of these dance rituals on stage to reveal the sensitivity and sensuality of the male body. Tinged with the tastes and colors of Morocco, the artists transform the show into a moment of real celebration where the exaltation of bodies unfolds through contagious energy. 

© Ahmed Lahcen

A rising star in the field of contemporary choreography, Belfast-raised choreographer Oona Doherty, now based in Marseille in the south of France, brings to the US a thrilling amalgamation of ensemble movement, spoken word poetry, and political candor. Set to an eclectic soundtrack of compositions by Sergeï Rachmaninoff and electronic music composer Jamie xx, the work traces a line from the past to the present, while urgently appealing for societal change. “This is a bow to dance, this is a questioning of what to do next,” says Doherty. Navy Blue confronts an existential crisis with a search for redemption, freedom, and a new future for all.    

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© Dajana Lothert 

In his latest creation, My Body, My Archive (2023), Congolese choreographer and dancer Faustin Linyekula digs deep into his own body, which serves as a tangible archive of his country and ancestors. He takes a journey through his artistic oeuvre and family history, focusing on what was often missing in the genealogy of his family: the stories of women. In this moving dialogue, accompanied on trumpet by Heru Shabaka-Ra of the Sun Ra Arkestra, maternal ancestors recount their past in Lengola land while Linyekula performs their presence in his life today. 

© Sarah Imsand 

UCLA – Los Angeles, CA 

This two-week interdisciplinary, dance residency and collaborative encounter between Zaides and Paglen offers a unique and innovative approach to fostering creativity and collaboration. They are each interested in exploring the ways in which artificial intelligence algorithms, surveillance, and issues of privacy affect our ways of being and how artistic endeavors and projects can intervene. 

CAP UCLA sees the artist as a leader and researcher, and provides space for groundbreaking professional artists to create, develop, and present new work and ideas that will foster The Nimoy as a hub for repairing, rebuilding, and regenerating community, presenting an opportunity to connect local, national, and international artists with the UCLA community of artists, students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding area. 

Arkadi Zaides, born in Belarus and now based in France, works as a choreographer, performer, and researcher.  As a choreographer deeply invested in exploring the intersections between documentary practices and embodied experiences, Arkadi Zaides is committed to investigating the physical manifestations of conflict, borders, and the human body’s pivotal role within these contexts. His artistic and theoretical research centers on interrogating state power and the embodiment of reality, culminating in the creation of impactful artistic projects that delve into diverse geopolitical landscapes and their border dynamics. 

Trevor Paglen is a contemporary artist renowned for his exploration of surveillance, technology, and the nature of visibility in contemporary society. His work spans various mediums, including photography, sculpture, installation, and investigative journalism. Paglen’s art often delves into the unseen aspects of our world, revealing the hidden infrastructures and systems that govern our lives. In so doing, he invites the public to question the limits of knowledge and perception in an increasingly interconnected world. 

© Arkadi Zaides in Solo Siento/Photo: Avi Natan
 

French Institute Alliance Française, New York, NY 

Rhizomes is a collaboration between French dancer-choreographer Thierry Thieu Niang and New York-based visual artist Roxane Revon. The project combines dance and installations, working with physical materials and gestures related to root systems, seeds, and growth. Presented as a series of workshops over the course of two to three weeks, the two artists will work with a group of participants to create a performance accompanied by an original set design. Workshops are adaptable for all ages. Rhizomes are underground plant stems that grow horizontally, capable of nourishing other plants. Much like these intricate plant systems, humans experience personal transformation and are complexly interconnected.  

Thierry Thieû Niang is a dancer and choreographer. Alongside his creative career, he initiates choreographic research workshops with professionals and amateurs alike, including children, teenagers, adults, seniors, autistic people, and prisoners.   

Officier des Arts et des Lettres and laureate of the Villa Médicis Hors les Murs, the Fondation Unesco-Aschberg, and the Prix Chorégraphe SACD, he works with art schools, conservatoires supérieurs d’art dramatique et chorégraphique, neighborhood associations, hospitals, and prisons in various cities in France and abroad.   

Roxane Revon is a multi-disciplinary artist interested in the interdependence between species and more particularly between humans and vegetation. After graduating in philosophy and literature from La Sorbonne University (MA), she moved to New York where she started her career as a theater director and continued her education (certificate from Yale School of Drama, Stanford GSB).  

She has been working as a stage director, teacher, and scenographer for a decade while, more recently, developing multimedia installations and visual arts. 

 Picture: Thierry Thieû Niang and Roxan Revon © Pascal Perich