Hervé Koubi

Trained at the “École de la danse,” notably with Rosella Hightower, Hervé Koubi began his career as a performer in pieces by Jean-Christophe Paré and Emilio Calcagno. A dancer at the Centre Choréographique National de Nantes with Claude Brumachon and Benjamin Lamarche, then at the Centre Choréographique National de Caen with Karine Saporta and in the Thor Company in Brussels with Thierry Smits, he decided to develop his own choreographic project in 2000.

It was first tradition, and all the oral and physical transmission it carries within it, that captured his interest. A dance that brings together, unites, and creates connections between the balls of yesteryear, the rave parties, and the dance gatherings of today. It was then notions of traces, memories, and affiliations that led him, notably, to Algeria, in search of his roots.

Thus, in 2009, the artist and his artistic journey were deeply influenced by urban dance, even though it was already present, like a precursor, in his earliest creations.Since then, he has considered the interplay of techniques as a space for experimentation that transcends technical and aesthetic boundaries and affiliations.Since 2017, he has collaborated on all of his creations with Fayçal Hamlat, a dancer and choreographer with whom he shares a common vision. Fayçal Hamlat, a dancer and choreographer with a background in urban dance, whom he met when he was the official choreographer of the National Ballet of Algiers, first worked as a dancer for Hervé Koubi and later became his assistant.

While Hervé Koubi was initially struck by hip-hop dance, Fayçal Hamlat took the opposite path, influenced and nourished in turn by contemporary dance. Fayçal Hamlat has since made his own contribution and has now become the essential collaborator for Hervé Koubi, asserting a hybrid style. A field choreographer, Koubi also develops numerous territorial projects through the encounters and sharing of his works with audiences and different practices. He and his team develop numerous territorial projects that question and define the implicit boundaries of a 21st-century ballet that is at once heir to its history, open, and contemporary. He was awarded the Order of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in July 2015.