When the Portuguese choreographer Tiago Guedes, new director of the prestigious Maison de la danse in Lyon – and, therefore, at the head of the Biennale de Lyon – said to him: “It’s great, we’ll be able to do a lot of things together”Mourad Merzouki a sour: “Yes… Not right away. It will take me some time to digest. » Him, the child of the country, who had practically taken his first steps in the prestigious house, was convinced of it: the post would fall to him naturally. He did not understand that he is escaping him, and is still enraged to have seen a crusade going up behind the scenes against his candidacy.
Mourad Merzouki is “31 creations in thirty years, performed 4,000 times in 70 countries around the world, 2 million spectators, 1,200 artists, technicians… », tell ad libitum its aficionados. In fact, appointed thirteen years ago at the head of the National Choreographic Center (CCN) of Créteil, creator of the Karavel festival in the Lyon metropolitan area and of the important Kalypso in Ile-de-France, the choreographer is hailed as the greatest purveyor (with Angelin Preljocaj) of public for the dance.
“A great artist, we agree. But a very questionable manager… » : in 2022, while the dancer was submitting his application for the Maison de la danse, a phone call – whose interlocutor would like to be anonymized – left him perplexed. Mourad Merzouki has ” a file “ circulating, we are told: plagiarism, moral harassment, personal enrichment… To support these accusations: a long list of people to contact.
Some stories turn out to be old and known. Mourad Merzouki has always agreed: the arrival in Créteil was not smooth. He was imposed, he argues, people and working conditions and wages with which he did not agree. He fought. But others describe a difficult work atmosphere, tense relationships, a lack of listening, even violent remarks: “He is megalomaniac and very jealous »said one of the witnesses. “He’s a dual character. There is the solar version and then there is the version obscure, he thinks the whole world is against him”says another. “Archi available with the public, politicians, journalists, he is tough with his teamget angry elsewhere. Destabilizing: he can insult you one day and come back the next day with a bouquet. »
Sufferer or executioner
Suffering at work is an increasingly sensitive issue in live performance. It is far, the beautiful cliché of the troop of acrobats where everyone did everything without framework or social protection. From now on, the physical excess, the extended hours, the narcissistic quarrels no longer pass. In this case, it is the multiplicity of testimonies that raises questions. Problem: in this world of ego, one quickly becomes in turn a whipping boy or an executioner. However, apart from the witnesses on the list provided, we also collect other stories. “Who martyred whom?” », we slip. Some say white, others say black…
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