An epic voyage: Zephyr by Mourad Merzouki and Compagnie Käfig

Forum am Schlosspark, Ludwigsburg
December 9, 2023

“The most beautiful voyage is the one we haven’t taken yet.” It was with those words, spoken by French yachtsman Loick Peyron, that choreographer Mourad Merzouki began his research into Zephyr, a 2020 commission by what has been called the “Everest of the seas,” the 27,500-mile, solo, round-the-world, non-stop yacht race that is the Vendée Globe.

Although he began in hip-hop, still at the root of his dance, French-Algerian Merzouki has long adopted a multidisciplinary approach to his work. Zephyr is a perfect example. The choreography is a superb fusion of contemporary dance and hip hop, but just as important is Armand Amar’s fantastic commissioned score that carries the cast on its journey, and the fabulous staging. It is marvellous theatre. A real spectacle that holds you from start to finish.

The title comes from the gentle breeze that is the zephyr: the warm west wind of the northern hemisphere. And it does start quietly with just two dancers and a small fan in a ray of light. But it’s the calm before the storm and it’s not long before Merzouki and Compagnie Käfig’s ten fabulous dancers set of on an epic voyage that shows men and women challenged by the forces of nature at their most powerful.

Zephyr is essentially a work about images. Although mini-stories can be read into scenes, Merzouki shies away from linear narrative, preferring to create and work with the big picture. Drawing on themes of sailors and storms, of the sea and the wind, both in all their states, he paints a series of montages that blend effortlessly into one another.

The intense action takes place against set designer Benjamin Lebreton’s rust-coloured curved construction that resembles the belly of an old ship. Circular openings reminiscent of portholes become routes for entrances and exits.

The natural elements are brought vividly to the stage. Giant fans sited in those same portholes create gales, so powerful you can feel the air move a good number of rows back in the auditorium. They also blow in dry ice that at first appears as thick sea fog, but later like spray hurled dramatically across a deck.

All in various shades of blue, the cast, the crew, become exposed to the vagaries of the sea and the wind. Whether seen as real people or ghosts of sailors past, or maybe both, they are swept along by ocean currents, giant waves and howling gales, they come together in magnificent tableaux.

Even on a calm day, the sea is never still. Similarly, the dance never stops. There are a couple of quieter moments but the wind is almost ever-present. There are times when the dancers seem to become the tossing sea but then, in powerful ensemble sections, surge back and forth as they try to battle it. On occasion they group together for support, heads into it. It shows up in specific movement too, notably fast-windmilling arms, although it’s easy to read this also as a nod to the fast winding of a windlass as sails are rushed to be changed.

Amidst the drama there are quieter interludes. One powerful but incredibly graceful solo sees one of the men soar like a bird. An albatross of the southern oceans, perhaps.

But the wind is never far away. A ballet of giant, billowing sails becomes an angry sea. Dancers disappear beneath it. Those lost? But then calm as another rises from the ocean of fabric like a giant mermaid, or perhaps Amphitrite, goddess of the sea.

All the time there is Amar’s driving epic score that pulls together influences from East and West into music that combines folk and electro-acoustic. I’ll swear I heard waves and the sound of cables clanking against a mast in there.

Yoann Tivoli’s intense, atmospheric light conjures up the hot winds and pale edges of the Antarctic. At one quiet point, the sun seems to come up, casting gorgeous shadows.

After all the adrenalin and excitement, Zephyr concludes incredibly quietly. Port reached. But what a breathtaking voyage. Anyone who has been at sea in a storm will recognise the pictures painted, even if they’ve never been close to the dangers faced by the Vendée yachtsmen.

Zephyr is dance at its very best. It is a fabulous, fabulous seventy minutes. But there’s still time for a little celebration and a semi-improvised bonus that gives each dancer the chance to show off a few tricks. It had the audience cheering with delight and was a great way to end a beautiful, exciting, thrilling journey.