Cover The dance practice of ‘Compagnie de Chaillot’ (Photo: courtesy of Elliott Verdier)
The dance practice of ‘Compagnie de Chaillot’ (Photo: courtesy of Elliott Verdier)
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From hip-hop to dance that combines extreme sports, French choreographer Rachid Ouramdane stretches human limits. This month, he brings his celebrated gravity-defying work ‘Corps Extrêmes’ to Hong Kong
Have you ever thought humans can defy gravity without a space suit or rigging? French choreographer Rachid Ouramdane, who is bringing the dance production Corps Extrêmes to Hong Kong this month, is determined to explore that. Running from May 30 to June 1 at Xiqu Centre, West Kowloon, the one-hour show, which name means “extreme bodies” in English, will feature a slackliner lying balanced on a rope; acrobats and flyers soaring and gliding in the air; and a rock-climber climbing and dancing on a giant wall.
The production plays with concepts of flight, weightlessness, suspension and other such elements of extreme sports—something that Ouramdane likes combining with contemporary dance.
The Corps Extrêmes show, which debuted in 2022 in La Roche-sur-Yon, France, was envisaged by Ouramdane during the lockdown period of Covid. Living in a house in the mountains between Paris and the French Alps, he was inspired by extreme sports enthusiasts who scaled the surrounding mountains.
Above Möbius Morphosis (Photo: courtesy of Quentin Chevrier)
Möbius Morphosis (Photo: courtesy of Quentin Chevrier)
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“I was very interested in the way those people embarked in extreme practices such as climbing in high altitude and [almost] walking in the air. They developed a kind of awareness [of their bodies],” he says. “Often, we think they are crazy people who like to play with death. But it’s not at all the case. What was important for me was to speak about their relation with nature and our fragility, especially during this lockdown that we all had to face all over the world.”
The production aims to present how they express themselves through their demanding practices. “For me, dance is always an opportunity to make portraits of people,” he says. “I wanted to make portraits of those people and share with the audience this deep sensibility of what’s around us in terms of [our perception of] climate, nature, landscape and how we can still inhabit these environments. I want to show how you can express yourself in an uncommon way, because what they are doing is quite rare.”
Above Corps Extrêmes (Photo: courtesy of Pascale Cholette)
Above Rachid Ouramdane (Photo: courtesy of Benjamin Mangelle)
Corps Extrêmes (Photo: courtesy of Pascale Cholette)
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A core principle in Ouramdane’s work, evident in Corps Extrêmes, is the idea that strength can emerge from acknowledging fragility and vulnerability. He believes that understanding our limits and accepting our vulnerability allows us to push beyond them. This concept is central to the lives of extreme sports practitioners, who constantly confront their fears and physical boundaries. He highlights that the risks they take are not reckless but calculated, part of a routine demanding “intense focus and a hypersensitivity” to the environment and their partners. This heightened awareness, born from embracing vulnerability, becomes a key element on the stage.
To translate the experience of vast natural environments to the stage, Ouramdane selected extreme sports adaptable to a theatre setting, such as highlining and climbing. A significant stage element is a large cliff-like structure, used by climbers and also serving as a screen to project images of nature, linking the indoor performance to the outdoor world that inspires it.
Above Corps Extrêmes (Photo: courtesy of Pascale Cholette)
Corps Extrêmes (Photo: courtesy of Pascale Cholette)
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Many of the performers are without formal dance training, but Ouramdane, whose background is in hip-hop dance, views everything as potentially choreographic. “I believe that you can find expressivity with any kind of movement. Anything can be chorographic. The difference between dance and choreography is that dance is based on set, rhythmic steps that you have to learn, whereas choreography is movement that will affect your vision; suddenly, it becomes contemplative. It could be anything. It could be birds turning like a hurricane. It could be kids playing in the kindergarten,” he says. “It’s how you use [your body and mind].”
Above Corps Extrêmes (Photo: courtesy of Pascale Cholette)
Corps Extrêmes (Photo: courtesy of Pascale Cholette)
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His somewhat atypical view on choreography—and indeed of dance—can perhaps be explained by his upbringing as the child of Algerian refugees in France. “Both my parents didn’t know how to read or write. Having this background from the colonised country in the north of Africa, growing up in France and having to combine [different cultures in my life] forces you to always have a global vision from a very young age. You are convinced that there is never one version of something,” he says. “There is always a different point of view or interpretation of anything.”
As the current director of Chaillot, the Théâtre National de la Danse in Paris, he hopes to use dance for social good, inclusivity and education. Ouramdane, who has worked with “traditionally non-dancers” such as migrant children, victims of abuse and more, says, “Diversity and hospitality are two important notions of our theatre. By hospitality, I don’t mean hosting you with nice champagne. When you come here, you will see communities who are not known—we give space to them to be who they are.”
The international tour of Corps Extrêmes is sponsored by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, supporting the Hong Kong debut as part of the French May Arts Festival 2025.
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
