Nadia Beugré "Burning Girls"

Born in Ivory Coast, Nadia Beugré made her first appearance in 1995 as a member of the Dante Theatre. Two years later, she became a founding member of Béatrice Kombé’s ground-breaking, all-female dance ensemble, TchéTché, with whom she toured for years to critical acclaim across Africa, Europe, and North America.
Through Beatrice Kombé, an immensely free woman, Nadia Beugré understands that the stage is a ring where anything can happen…
After Kombé’s death, she follows a training at Germaine Acogny’s Ecole des Sables in Senegal, and then joined in 2009 ex.e.r.ce., Mathilde Monnier’s programme for talented, up-and-coming choreographers at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier.
She was soon staging productions of her own, including the still-touring solo Quartiers libres ('Free rein') in 2012. Followed Legacy premiered at the La Bâtie Festival in Geneva in 2015 and also performed at the Festival d'Automne in Paris, Tapis Rouge (2017), and Roukasskass Club (2019). L’Homme rare, an all-male quintet performance, was premiered at the Montpellier Dance Festival in 2020. In 2023, the duet Filles-Pétroles and Prophétique (on est déjà né.es) with artists from the trans community, both created in Abidjan, bear witness to an Ivorian youth in fire… Her latest piece, Epique ! pour Yikakou is a journey towards the village of her father…
In Nadia Beugré’s journey, there is also another crucial encounter: Alain Buffard, with whom she performed Mauvais genre and Baron Samedi. “He pushed me to understand why I was relentlessly questioning the body, the sexuality, the gender. He was a gentle and generous man, an extraordinary listener, but he also shared his dark spaces with us. In the same way, I question this dark side in me, the darkness in the light that makes us so complex beings.”
For a decade, Nadia Beugre’s pieces have been developing a very singular journey around margins, exclusion, what is outside, abnormal, a journey through shifting identities, be they social, cultural, or gender-based…
Beugré also performs in works by fellow choreographers, such as Seydou Boro, Dorothée Munyaneza, Bernardo Montet, Rémy Héritier, Boris Charmatz, and in 2022 Robyn Orlin.
She was awarded in 2023 the SACD Prize New Choreographic Talent and was associate artist to ICI CCN de Montpellier (2023-2024).
With Virginie Dupray, Nadia Beugré has founded in 2020 her own dance company in Montpellier, Libr’Arts, a platform for production, touring, but also training, developing actions and programmes between France and Ivory Coast.

Founded in Montpellier in December 2020 by Nadia Beugré, Libr'Arts proposes spaces for reflection, creation, sharing, and experimentation, wandering between Montpellier, Abidjan, and the rest of the world!
Libr'Arts combines a strong local base with an international influence.
The local anchoring is based on solid partnerships with various organizations, as well as conversations with local artists and local audiences. Lasting companionships include in Montpellier ICI-CCN de Montpellier-Occitanie, the Montpellier Danse festival, the MM Association, the Halle Tropisme, as well as in the Occitanie region, the Théâtre de Nîmes, the Théâtre Molière in Sète, La Place de la danse, Le Parvis, and the Théâtre Garonne in Toulouse...
Libr’Arts’ international dimension relies on Nadia Beugré's worldwide recognition in Europe of course, but also in the United States, Canada, and Brazil. Libr’Arts has also developed strong ties with the African continent, in Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Tanzania, and of course Ivory Coast, with a relay association, Libr’Arts Côte d’Ivoire, that have been implementing since 2022 training and mentoring programmes for women and gender minorities. In order to create local sustainable ecosystems, training programme are covering not only the artistic skills, but also the technical and administrative knowledge.
Working on the production and dissemination of Nadia Beugré's work, the company accompanies 4 associate artists, paying a particular attention to artists from the African continent.