Josef Nadj
A painter paired with Miquel Barceló in Paso Doble, a man-brush in The Crows, a transmitter of cultures and literature in Asobu, The Philosophers, Cherry Brandy and many other plays: Josef Nadj is an artist fertilized by a host of sources. With his body and intuition as his principal tools, in the same way as an artisan, he transforms this moving material into singular choreographic objects. An illustrator since he was 15 years old, the director of the Centre choréographique national d'Orléans approaches the stage as a blank page on which he traces precise signs, smooths away or accentuates the blacks and makes dazzling touches of colour burst forth. Josef Nadj's imagination is also marked by Vojvodina, a region in the former Yugoslavia (now in Serbia) where he grew up, whose landscapes and mythologies run through all his shows. His training in mime, music, acting and contemporary dance has allowed him to create a style that is recognizable among all others, between lyricism, purity and theatricality. A familiar fact at the Festival d'Avignon since 1992 and The Scales of Orpheus, he has presented 10 shows at the Festival and was its associate artist in 2006. RB, April, 2012