PORTRAIT, the new production by international dance talent Mehdi Kerkouche, explores intra-family relationships through highly expressive tableaux tinged with burlesque. After DABKEH, a work about group balance between broken bonds and reconciliation, and ET SI on the theme of survival and support among pack members, Kerkouche continues his research on group forms in a black-and-white family portrait.

Happy, uncomfortable, toxic, absent family. How does one escape it or, conversely, how is it possible to take refuge in it? How to assert one's individuality in a family one has not chosen?

Powerful, fluid and vibrant, Kerkouche's dance masterfully brings together young artists from from diverse backgrounds - hip hop, street jazz, cabaret, contemporary circus - and blends styles, abetted by a spellbinding electro-pop soundtrack by from Lucie Antunes.

On stage, a tribe of bodies coexist perfectly without ever touching, until, at times, to freezing like old family portraits. Bonds evolve, personalities emerge as the sequences unfold, in solo, duet or ensemble form. Then the picture comes to life, revealing the truth about the characters: behind the frame, they all experience the same ups and downs, joys, sorrows, losses and happiness.

Dancer, actor, singer, director, Mehdi Kerkouche works as a choreographer and director on numerous television programs in France and Europe. From film to fashion, he trains artists from all horizons and directs the staging of major cultural events. In 2017, he created the EMKA company, involving artists known from his previous projects for new creations that blend energy and poetry.