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The Need to Dance
IDFA 2014

The Need to Dance

De Nood aan Dansen
Peter Lataster, Petra Lataster-Czisch
Netherlands
2014
58 min
World Premiere
Festival history

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is regarded internationally as one of the world’s most original contemporary choreographers. Filmmakers Peter and Petra Lataster follow this highly productive Flemish-Moroccan choreographer and dancer throughout a period in which he works concurrently on several projects: the premiere of a dance piece in Gothenburg, the first rehearsals for a new piece in Brussels, and performances of existing work in Antwerp, Madrid and Saint-Étienne. While watching his effort, concentration and dedication at rehearsals and onstage, a long interior monologue reveals that a dancing career was not an obvious choice for this son of an Islamic Moroccan father and a Catholic Flemish mother – although the recurring conflict with his dominant father turned out to be the driving force behind his artistic development. Cherkaoui reflects on his mixed background which provides artistic fuel through a combination of Flemish surrealism and Arabic calligraphy. He reminisces about the music videos of Michael Jackson and Madonna, whose choreographies he learned by heart as a teenager, though it wasn’t until he was 19 when he could really choose to be a dancer – after his father had died.

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Director
Co-production
    NTR
    NTR
Screening copy
    De Familie Film & TV
    De Familie Film & TV