G.R.O.O.V.E.

Let’s go! The Festival d’Avignon opens its 77th edition with an ambulatory dance/music/light show, a three-hour modern-day ritual which throws wide open the doors of the Opéra. Come experience the pulsing music of artist Bintou Dembélé’s G.R.O.O.V.E. and meet a major figure in the history of French hip-hop and the winner of the SACD Choreography award in 2022, who began in 2002 a fascinating work based on a way of thinking and a dance breaking free of all constraints, at once heritage and celebration. Bintou left her mark in 2019 with her choreography of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera-ballet Les Indes galantes for the Opéra national de Paris. With G.R.O.O.V.E., Bintou Dembélé thwarts expectations in a flamboyant journey which subverts this libretto. She plays with the codes of the street, calls on the sacred, and brings together hip-hop, K.R.U.M.P., voguing, Célia Kameni’s amazing singing, and Charles Amblard’s lap steep guitar, which will invite you to join them on the dance floor.

Interview with Bintou Dembélé

With Wilfried Blé "Wolf", Guillaume Chan Ton, Bintou Dembélé, Marion Gallet, Cintia Golitin, Adrien Goulinet, Célia Kameni (alternating with Cindy Pooch), Mohammed Medelsi "Med", Alexandre Moreau "Cyborg", Salomon Mpondo-Dicka "Bidjé", Marie Ndutiye, Michel Onomo “Meech”, Juliana Roumbedakis, Féroz Sahoulamide, Aisi Zhou (alternating with Moïse Kitoko)
and Charles Amblard (guitar and lapsteel), Célia Kameni (voice)
with the original participation of the Treizième Cercle collective (Marseille)
Design and choreography Bintou Dembélé
Assistant choreographer Féroz Sahoulamide
Artistic coordination Anthony Cazaux
Music Charles Amblard
Lighting Benjamin Nesme
Costumes Anaïs Durand Munyankindi
Artistic coordination Anthony Cazaux
Stage manager Philippe Mortelecque, Sébastien Bausseron
Sound Manager Jérémy Hoareau
Light Manager Emmanuel Gary
Administration Cécile Lorenzi
Diffusion Elizabeth Fély-Dablemont
Recorded music Jean-Philippe Rameau, Les Indes galantes
Orchestre Cappella Mediterranea, Chœur de chambre de Namur, Direction Leonardo García Alarcón, David Lang - I lie, The Little Match Girl Passion, Ars Nova Copenhagen, Paul Hillier Kronos Quartet - Pieces of Africa : Ekitundu Ekisooka I and II, White Man Sleeps, Wawshishijay

Production La structure Rualité, Festival de Marseille
Coproduction Opéra de Lille, Ateliers Médicis (Clichy-sous-Bois et Montfermeil), ExtraPôle Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Ville de Lille, Maison Folie Moulins (Lille), Ville de Champigny
With the support of Spedidam for the 77th edition of the Festival d'Avignon
In partnership with France Médias Monde
Production platform supported by the Région Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur bringing together the Festival d'Avignon, the Festival de Marseille, the Théâtre national de Nice, the Théâtre national de Marseille La Criée, Les Théâtres, Anthéa, Châteauvallon-Liberté Scène nationale (Ollioules) and the Friche la Belle de Mai (Marseille)
With the kind permission of France Musique for the use of excerpts from the recording of Les Indes galantes made in October 2019 at the Opéra national de Paris