Zimmermann & de Perrot
CHOUF OUCHOUF
Interpreted by the
Groupe acrobatique de Tanger
Chouf Ouchouf is Arabic for: „look, but take a real good look!!“
Any time that we confront the new and unknown, we find ourselves slipping into different – and complicated – emotional moods. We project certain unconscious desires and fears onto the other, insisting on the reality of our own perceptions and worldview. To feel more secure, we try hard to implement our own beliefs. But meanwhile, each of us also serves as a blank wall against which others direct their own projections.
How can a real relationship take place under circumstances like this? In this desert, how to discover a real oasis instead of a mirage?
Chouf Ouchouf enters into this labyrinth of questions and preoccupations. In a torrent of scenes, the topic is humorously twisted around, pushed steeply down, and then soars up into absurdity, to the point where gravity itself is de-commissioned.
Chouf Ouchouf exudes intensity and emotion, inspiring and seducing the spectator to look sharp: at the stage and at oneself.
The artist duo Zimmermann & de Perrot have developed, over the course of their many successful productions, a unique dialogue between bodies and music that goes beyond spoken language. They create the stage sets themselves – and these play a leading role of their own. It is in this artistic universe, which has evolved over a dozen years, that they directed the Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger, creating “Chouf Ouchouf"– a theatre piece for twelve acrobats and voices.
The Groupe acrobatique de Tanger was created in 2003 by Sanae El Kamouni. Her idea was to work with the acrobats of Tangier to create something new.
Her premise is simple: in Morocco there is a tradition, unique in the world, of acrobatics – with its own history, it is practiced with an outstanding degree of excellence by numerous troupes and families. However, there are no creations by these artists, who are doomed always to repeat the same numbers, which they perform in the street, in traditional circuses, or in the rare instances when they can procure a contract from the tourism and entertainment industry.
Convinced that a new story could be invented with these talented artists, she proposed to the producer Aurélien Bory to come to Tangier to create the first contemporary production involving Moroccan acrobatics.
This led to the Summer 2004 piece, TAOUB, in which they played with the opportunities of a vast length of fabric, and enhanced their acrobatic feats with songs, videos, shadow-plays – and a human trampoline. The piece was a huge success in Morocco and around the world, inspiring the group to do more work together.
Sanae El Kamouni founded the Association Scènes du Maroc to produce further projects, and made a proposal to the duo of Zimmermann and de Perrot to develop a new piece in collaboration with the Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger.
