
Crossing The Line Festival 2022
September 9–October 28
Crossing The Line celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. This year’s programming, curated for the first time by Florent Masse and Mathilde Augé, celebrates the festival’s core values: innovation, intellectual inquiry, openness to others and the world, kindness, and a strong will to engage with the issues of our time.
The artists presented in this year’s edition, in partnership with leading art institutions around New York City, challenge the boundaries of their respective artforms and will thrill audiences with unexpected designs, unconventional materials, and provocative formats.
Festival Program
Omar Ba
Clin d’oeil
Fri, Sep 9, from 6–8pm
In conjunction with his solo show at the new location of TEMPLON Gallery in Chelsea, FIAF presents one of Omar Ba’s most important historical works, Clin d’œil à Cheikh Anta Diop-Un continent à la recherche de son histoire (2017). The artwork, presented on corrugated cardboard spanning the entire height of the FIAF Gallery, pays homage to Senegalese historian and politician Cheikh Anta Diop.
Marion Siéfert
_jeanne_dark_
7:30pm
Under the Instagram pseudonym _jeanne_dark_, 16 year-old Jeanne breaks her silence about being bullied in hopes of finding meaningful interactions online. Delicately addressing the pertinent issues of bullying and sexuality, director Marion Siéfert creates a striking work that breaks the fourth wall of theater through intimate live Instagram video.
Caroline Guiela Nguyen
FRATERNITY, A Fantastic Tale
7:30pm
In Caroline Guiela Nguyen’s play FRATERNITY, an ensemble cast of professional and amateur actors take audiences on a wild adventure! In a freak incident, part of the human race disappears from the planet. Those who still remain, try to heal and make sense of the unexpected loss; now navigating their world without partners, parents and friends.
Felwine Sarr and Étienne Minoungou
Traces – Speech to African Nations
Based on the Senegalese academic, philosopher and poet Felwine Sarr, this lyrical text is captivatingly performed by Burkinabe actor Etienne Minoungou as an inspiring and imaginative storyteller speaking to his African brothers.
Robyn Orlin
And so you see… our honourable blue sky and ever enduring sun… can only be consumed slice by slice
Time to be announced
In this powerful, solo dance piece from famed South African choreographer Robyn Orlin, dancer Albert Ibokwe Khoza embodies the creative energy of a younger generation with their intense desire to change society.
Felwine Sarr and Dorcy Rugamba
Freedom, I’ll have lived your dream until the very last day
7:30pm
This musical theatre performance directed by Dorcy Rugamba brings together the famous political views of poet René Char, psychiatrist and political philosopher Frantz Fanon, and economist Felwine Sarr. The theme, which celebrates diversity and equity at its core, stands against abjection and reminds us of the difficult relationship between individual consciousness and collective fate.
Christopher Myers
Fire in the Head
7:30pm
A world premiere staged in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Fire in the Head salutes the tortured genius of the pathbreaking dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky, who, like many artists today, grappled with the confluence between global and personal crises.
Kimberly Bartosik
The Encounter
7:30pm
Initiated in the NYC summer of 2021, The Encounter blossomed from the celebratory energy and humble gratitude of choreographer Kimberly Bartosik’s return to the studio post-quarantine. The work is an encounter with oneself, as we dig our lives out of the pandemic.
BAM in association with FIAF’s Crossing The Line Festival
CROWD
by Gisèle Vienne
7:30pm
In the US premiere of CROWD, the acclaimed French choreographer, Gisèle Vienne transports audiences to a 1990’s Detroit rave, and a night spent losing oneself in the crowd.
Fouad Boussouf
Näss
7:30pm
Moroccan choreographer Fouad Boussouf presents the US premiere of Näss (People). Inspired by an array of dance traditions, the performance is comprised of a corps of 7 dancers that respond to powerful beats of percussions and electronic music.
Bruno Latour
and Frédérique Aït-Touati
The Terrestrial Trilogy
Inside, Moving Earths and Viral
Fri, Oct 28 at 7pm
With guest Bruno Latour
Philosopher Bruno Latour and director Frédérique Aït-Touati make the stage a place for “scenic essays” and philosophical experimentation in La Trilogie Terrestre, the third installment in what they refer to as ‘lecture performances.’
Leadership Festival Support
Festival Support