French hip-hop choreographer brings his work to Beijing

Kader Attou talks about his upcoming dance show at the French Culture Center in Beijing. [Photo by Xu Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Roots, a dance show exploring “a human adventure” by Kader Attou, director of the prestigious Centre Chorégraphique National de La Rochelle and a famous hip-hop dancer and choreographer, along with 10 exceptional dancers, will be on show at the People's Liberation Army Opera House on May 23.

The show is one of the important parts of the 15th Meet in Beijing Arts Festival. Attou gave a lecture at the French Culture Center in Beijing on May 22 to dance lovers and Chinese media, and shared his life experience as well as thoughts about dance and his upcoming show.

The son of an Algerian immigrant family, Attou was born in the suburbs of Lyon in 1974. When he was 10 years old, he was enamored of an TV show H.I.P.H.O.P, which introduced hip-hop techniques and famous dancers weekly. He began blending break dance moves with acrobatic tricks with his friends in school and in his neighborhood.

“We were deeply fond of hip-hop at that time. We even skipped class to practice dancing together. Hip-hop dance was born in America in the 1970s. To me, it only started to develop in France beginning in 1984,” he said.

In 1989, Attou founded his first dance collective with several friends, Compagnie Accrorap. As a fresh hip-hop dance group, they were determined to break out professionally and bring their new style to big stages.