Les Sentinelles.2

All along the central building’s parapet walk, at the crest of the walls and fortifications, dozens of guards could be seen, rifles slung over their shoulders, marching methodically up and down, each taking just a few steps. Like the movement of a pendulum, they punctuated the course of time, without breaking the enchantment of this solitude that seemed infinite.

The Desert of the Tartars, Dino Buzzati, trans. Michel Arnaud

A decade later Nacera Belaza is taking up this process, initially imagined as a duo (Les Sentinelles, 2010) giving it a choral dimension. Multiplying the number of performers to stretch time, hollow out space, make emptiness resonate and open up so many receptacles for the spectator’s imagination… For several weeks at the MC93-Bobigny, alongside the professional dancers, Nacera Belaza invites amateurs to take part in this perilous listening exercise.