« Linked to Marseille-Provence 2013, European Capital of Culture and its exploration of the Mediterranean, I hope to embark on research centred on The Thousand and One Nights.

Beyond the mystery of this text which was most certainly written by several people and features extremely varied tales that emerge from one other like Russian dolls, this text have led generations of readers to dream, intrigued and attracted down the ages by their fantastical and erotic dimension.

There are some very sensual aspects in these tales which I would like to use in the dance. In 1988, I created the piece Liqueurs de chair which focused specifically on the notion of eroticism, but which was imbued by the aesthetics of the surrealists. I would like to take another look at it, but in a more flamboyant context while retaining the mystery and fascination that the Orient still produces in the collective unconscious.

What is also fascinating about The Thousand and One Nights is the device established through the figure of Scheherazade. Her language, culture and intelligence make her a bastion against barbarism and challenge us about the place of women in our societies.

It is evident that a great many avenues are opened up by this literary monument and each theme pushes me to develop the dance as a concept and take the actual writing of the movement further.

In the case of The Nights, it will in all likelihood be exploring as closely as possible the mystery of a dreamt-of East where bodies become signs, like a calligraphy of affects and moods. »