Maldonne
Femininity in all its versatility – tender, rebellious, playful and powerful – comes alive in French choreographer Leïla Ka’s production of Maldonne. Five dancers, dressed in an explosion of different dresses, explore and redefine their identities in a hyper-energetic spectacle full of visual contrasts.
Festival Julidans
Programme section Julidans On Stage
Dutch premiere
Location Meervaart
Run time 60 minutes
Language Language no problem
Maldonne
In Maldonne, the first ensemble performance by French rising star Leïla Ka, a playful yet powerful portrait of femininity emerges. Five dancers in long floral dresses move in a controlled and synchronised way, their movements tuned to breaths and voices. But what begins as delicate synchronisation soon turns into a chaos of lip-syncs and movements that complement and repel each other. Vulnerability and rebellion become intertwined in an unruly, expressive choreography.
The dresses, 30 items from second-hand shops, play a key role. They are not only worn but also transformed: knotted into phalluses, used as whips or as supports to cling on to while Leonard Cohen’s Dance Me to the End of Love plays. The dancers represent women hanging laundry, gossiping or being pregnant.
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But nothing is what it seems. Leïla Ka questions female identity, by constantly turning it upside down. Each transition is marked by a costume change, creating a mosaic of images and stories.
The title Maldonne comes from card games and refers to an incorrectly dealt hand, forcing the game to start all over again. For Ka, it symbolises the position of women in society: much has been achieved, but inequality remains. At the same time, the title also refers to Madonna, the iconic pop star who embodies female strength and rebellion. The performance offers a poetic and sometimes ironic look at the roles and expectations imposed on women.
More about Leïla Ka
Leïla Ka began her career in the urban dance scene and later became an assistant to French dance pioneer Maguy Marin, renowned for her innovative and expressive movement language. Marin’s influence is clearly reflected in Ka’s own work.
Since 2018, Ka has been creating her own pieces, including the award-winning solo Pode Ser and To Cut Loose, which earned her the French Critics' Prize for Choreographic Talent. With Bouffées, she won first prize at Danse Élargie (Théâtre de la Ville).
With Maldonne, Ka further cements her talent as a choreographer. The piece premiered in 2023 at La Garance – Scène nationale de Cavaillon and has been met with standing ovations wherever it’s performed.
REVIEWS
Le Monde
“Her success is relayed by phenomenal tours: she is the most present young choreographer currently on the bill with around a hundred dates annually.”
Télérama
“Leïla Ka embodies a youth who asserts itself, revolts and invents a style outside the codes.”
Tanz
“She draws her presence and conciseness from her life experience as a resister against imposed role models, speaking from the soul of all people who somehow long for freedom.”
La Terrasse
“An artistically and symbolically brilliant dance piece.”
Credits
Choreographer Leïla Ka
Performers Océane Crouzier, Jennifer Dubreuil Houthemann, Jane Fournier Dumet, Leïla Ka, Jade Logmo, or Justine Agator, or Adèle Bonduelle or Lise Messina or Flore Ruiz
Choreographer assistant Jane Fournier Dumet
Light designer Laurent Fallot
Costume Leïla Ka
Lighting manager Laurent Fallot or Clara Coll Bigot
Sound designer Rodrig Desa
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Production CENTQUATRE-PARIS and Cie Leïla Ka
Partners and supports La Garance – Scène nationale de Cavaillon, Théâtre Malakoff – Scène nationale, Théâtre d’Angoulême – Scène nationale, Théâtre de Suresnes Jean Vilar – festival Suresnes Cités Danse 2024, Centre Chorégraphique National d’Orléans – Direction Maud Le Pladec, Centre Chorégraphique National – Ballet de Lorraine direction Petter Jacobsson dans le cadre de l’Accueil-studio, Les Quinconces et L’Espal – Scène nationale du Mans, Espaces Pluriels – Scène conventionnée d’intérêt national Art et création – Danse de Pau, La Manufacture – CDCN Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux/La Rochelle, La Passerelle – Scène nationale de Saint-Brieuc, Fondation Royaumont, Espace 1789 – Scène conventionnée d’intérêt national Art et création pour la danse de Saint-Ouen – Le Quatrain – équipement culturel de Clisson Sèvre et Maine Agglo, Ville de Gouesnou – Centre Henri Queffélec
Mécénat Caisse des Dépôts
Aide à la résidence Fondation Royaumont / Fondation d’entreprise Hermès
Leïla Ka is associate artist at La Garance – Scène nationale de Cavaillon, associate artist at DSN, scène nationale de Dieppe, at la MC2, scène nationale de Grenoble.
The compagny is supported by the BNP Paribas Foundation since 2024.
