Gessnerallee
Zürich

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, the charismatic all-rounder of the contemporary dance scene, has repeatedly thrilled audiences at the Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps, most recently in 2014 with m¡longa. It is astonishing to witness the multifaceted worlds that he creates in quick succession. He has now invited some of his closest artistic partners, all high-calibre fellow dancers and musicians, to an exquisite rendezvous. Together with them, he is also making a long-awaited return to the stage himself. This is a noticeably well-attuned team in an intercultural dialogue. Fractus V comes across like a pause, set in dance. It philosophises about fundamental topics of our times. At its core, is the search for the true, for inner peace, for exchange and communication. We are taken on a journey that makes do with amazingly simple means, but causes nightmarishly beautiful images of bodies and motion to pass before our eyes. This production is wonderfully reduced, without ever being simple. It is artful, but never artificial. Instead, it is grounded by means of the incorporation of ethnic music and various dance traditions. It is, without doubt, a highlight of this festival programme.