Chorégraphie d'État deconstructs the gestures of police forces and border patrols to reveal the dramaturgy of violence perpetrated by the state. This multimedia installation-performance exposes the militarization of police training shaped by racialized surveillance, spatial exclusion, and the suppression of resistance.
Women choreographers from diverse practices around the world are invited to create choreographic scores as evidence of these power structures. Drawing inspiration from protest movements, the installation features videos of choreographic scores of resistance designed to be activated by performers and embodied by the audience, in a celebration of self-defense. With Chorégraphie d'État, Tania El Khoury approaches choreography as a form of analysis that allows her to uncover a pattern: what is perceived as a series of isolated and accidental cases of violence perpetrated by the state is in fact conceptualized and repeated according to a calculated dramaturgy. To achieve this, the artist brings together the various forms in which choreography is recorded and archived—descriptive or poetic texts, schematic drawings, movement analysis systems, and video—and uses them to annotate incidents of state violence. Within the installation space, the presentation and dissemination of these elements coexist with the performance, placing the audience in the position of witnesses and in a state of vigilance. This project is the latest chapter in a body of work that—for more than ten years—has explored interactivity with audiences and exposed the abuses of power that shape our daily and political lives. Tania El Khoury has addressed gender-based violence in Maybe If You Choreograph Me, You Will Feel Better (2011), as well as the political instrumentalization of Lebanon’s electricity grid in The Search for Power (2018). For Chorégraphie d'État, she draws particular inspiration from protest movements in public spaces and self-defense tactics. As it is activated in different cities and countries, the project is adapted—in collaboration with women dancers—to create a collective memory of state violence and resistance to it through the language of movement. Vincent Théval Duration: 1 hour Category: - World premiere - Saison Méditerranée 2026 - Dance
Price: From 10 to 25 euros.
Source: paris.fr — photo: Tania El Khoury