French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) Crossing The Line Festival 2022

Back for its 15th anniversary

September 9 – October 28, 2022

Visit the official page to learn about purchasing tickets…

New York, NY — The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) annual arts and performance festival presented in partnership with NYC’s leading art institutions is back for its 15th year. This year’s curators, Mathilde Augé and Florent Masse present artists and perspectives from around the French-speaking world that convey thought provoking narratives along with ground-breaking, premiere performances to NY audiences. The festival features 10 performances by a diverse group of artists engaging with the pressing issues of our time—including gender, sexuality, human connection, race and climate change—while exploring new territories in the performing arts.

Schedule of events:

EXHIBITION

Omar Ba’s Clin d’oeil

Date: Sep 9

Time: 6–8pm

Location: FIAF Gallery

On View through Oct 28

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.

THEATER

North America Premiere

Marion Siéfert’s _ jeanne_dark _

Date: Sep 14 & Sep 15

Time: 7:30pm

Location: FIAF Florence Gould Hall

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.

THEATER

North American Premiere

Caroline Guiela Nguyen’s FRATERNITY, A Fantastic Tale

Date: Sep 16 & Sep 17

Time: 7:30pm

Location: NYU Skirball

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.

THEATER

NY Premiere

Felwine Sarr and Étienne Minoungou’s Traces – Speech to African Nations

Date: Sep 21

Time: 8:30pm

Location: Abrons Arts Center

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.

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DANCE

US Premiere

Robyn Orlin’s And so you see… our honourable blue sky and ever enduring sun… can only be consumed slice by slice…

Date: Sep 22–Sep 24

Time: 7:30pm

Location: New York Live Arts

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.

THEATER

North American Premiere

Felwine Sarr and Dorcy Rugamba’s Freedom, I’ll have lived your dream until the very last day

Date: Sep 24

Time: 7:30pm

Location: FIAF Florence Gould Hall

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.

PERFORMANCE

World Premiere

Christopher Myers’ Fire in the Head

Date: Sep 29 & Sep 30

Time: 7:30pm

Location: Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association

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.

DANCE

World Premiere

Kimberly Bartosik’s The Encounter

Date: Oct 6–Oct 8

Time: 7:30pm

Location: FIAF Skyroom

The Encounter blossomed in 2021 from the celebratory energy of choreographer Kimberly Bartosik’s return to the studio post-quarantine. The work is an encounter with oneself, pulling from what we are currently carrying in our bodies—grief, hope, fear, desire, newfound power—and pairs it with our dreams in this moment of reconciliation with time.

DANCE

US Premiere

BAM in association with FIAF’s Crossing The Line Festival

Gisèle Vienne’s CROWD

Date: Oct 13–Oct 15

Time: 7:30pm

Location: BAM Howard Gilman Opera House

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.

DANCE

NY Premiere

Fouad Boussouf’s Näss

Date & Time: Oct 18 & 19 at 7:30pm

Oct 20, Oct 21 & Oct 22 at 8pm

Oct 23 at 2pm

Location: The Joyce Theater

Moroccan choreographer Fouad Boussouf presents the NY premiere of Näss (People). Inspired by an array of dance traditions, the performance is comprised of a corps of seven dancers that respond to powerful beats of percussion and electronic music.

THEATER

North American Premiere

Bruno Latour and Frédérique Aït-Touati’s The Terrestrial Trilogy

A Performance in Three Parts: Inside, Moving Earths and Viral

Date & Time: Oct 27 at 7:30pm & Fri, Oct 28 at 7pm

Location: FIAF Florence Gould Hall

Philosopher Bruno Latour and director Frédérique Aït-Touati make the stage a place for “scenic essays” and philosophical experimentation in The Terrestrial Trilogy, a reflection on the need for a profound renewal of our representations of the terrestrial world, living and non-living.