Crossing The Line Festival 2023
September 8–October 13
FIAF presents an exciting 16th edition of Crossing The Line Festival, its annual celebration of dynamic artists and fresh perspectives from around the French-speaking world.
From September 8 through October 13, the festival’s program features choreographer Tatiana Desardouin’s Trapped, elevating under-represented voices with bold street and club dance styles, and Desardouin’s all-night club culture refresh, Les 5 Sens, in collaboration with Nubian Néné’s The Intermission. Renowned actress Isabelle Adjani, in a riveting solo performance, explores the flickering life and legacy of icon Marilyn Monroe, and Simon Senn shares a timely artificial intelligence adventure, dSimon, with an unexpected turn. Choreographer Smaïl Kanouté’s Never Twenty One pays tribute to young people who have lost their lives to gun violence worldwide, and Olivier Tarpaga honors refugees from violence in his birthplace, Burkina Faso, with dance work Once the dust settles, flowers bloom. Crossing The Line also features a powerful video installation from artist Julian Charrière, And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire, exploring nature’s powerful opposing elements, water and fire, and a sculptural exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Camille de Galbert, Growing Matter, inspired by symbiotic ecosystems.
Upcoming Festival Events
Smaïl Kanouté
Never Twenty One
7:30pm
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement’s #Never21 hashtag, this deeply resonant piece by French-Malian choreographer/dancer Smaïl Kanouté pays tribute to young people of color who have lost their lives to gun violence all over the world before reaching the age of 21.
Olivier Tarpaga
Once the dust settles,
flowers bloom
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 7:30pm
Thursday, October 5, 2023 at 8pm
Friday, October 6, 2023 at 8pm
Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 2pm & 8pm
Sunday, October 8, 2023 at 2pm
Olivier Tarpaga’s powerful work acknowledges the strength of refugees from Africa’s Burkina Faso and its Sahel region—Tarpaga’s ancestral homeland—now settled in distant camps after fleeing violent jihadists.
Simon Senn
& Tammara Leites
dSimon
7:30pm
Swiss artist Simon Senn explores today’s most exciting and controversial technology, artificial intelligence (AI). This timely story relates the creation of an AI entity with Senn’s personality and personal data, and grapples with its transformation into an autonomous, disturbing, and yet familiar monster.
Isabelle Adjani
Marilyn’s Vertigo
7:30pm
Directed by Olivier Steiner & Emmanuel Lagarrigue
Written by Olivier Steiner & Isabelle Adjani
This extraordinary homage to Marilyn Monroe is based on her final interview, two days before her death. Renowned French actress Isabelle Adjani, in a riveting solo stage performance, engages in a surreal dialogue with Monroe, exploring the complexities of stardom, identity, and legacy.
Julian Charrière
And Beneath It All
Flows Liquid Fire
French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière’s intriguing and often provocative work invites reflection on our engagement with the natural world. This video installation encapsulates his thoughts on tensions between modern societies and nature, in a powerful juxtaposition of opposing elements—water and fire.
Camille de Galbert
Growing Matter
French-American multidisciplinary artist Camille de Galbert presents a sculptural exhibition inspired by symbiotic lifeforms whose intrinsic power lies in their ability to regenerate. De Galbert creates these fundamental ecosystems through patient, repetitive and cumulative movement.
Past Events
Tatiana Desardouin
& Passion Fruit Dance Company
Trapped
6-8pm: Festival Kickoff Party
8pm: Performance
NY-based choreographer Tatiana Desardouin and Passion Fruit Dance Company bring their bold street and club dance styles to the stage, in an inspiring piece that shares the social and personal challenges faced by four women of different backgrounds—ultimately conveying a message of hope for all under-represented voices.
Tatiana Desardouin
& Nubian Néné
Les 5 Sens
10pm–4am
NY-based choreographer Tatiana Desardouin and artist Nubian Néné create a conceptual, all-night experience at Manhattan’s famed club, Boom at The Standard, High Line. With live music, dance, food, and drinks, this immersive performance engages all five senses in a welcoming and diverse club-culture refresh.
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