For BNP Paribas, sponsorship is an on-going commitment: first and foremost it involves supporting projects that comply with the Group’s values over the long term.

Therefore, this year, the BNP Paribas Foundation decided to build on the partnership it established in 2006 with the dancer and choreographer Abou Lagraa, by supporting his latest ventures.

Currently performing, Un Monde en Soi, a show inspired by the original Big Bang and the latest creation by the artist Abou Lagraa and his dance company, the choreographer has also been working on developing, in collaboration with his company and the Ministry of Algerian Culture, a “Cultural Bridge across the Mediterranean”, a project which was launched in February this year. Driven by a profound desire to share his experience of and passion for Algeria, Abou Lagraa has put together a “Bridge”, a three-year cultural cooperation programme between France and Algeria in support of choreographic art: three years of exchanges, training, creation and meetings.

This project is based on the belief that building cultural exchanges will contribute to reciprocal understanding and the strengthening of the strong ties that already exist between the two countries.

The fruit of this collaboration will be the creation, in 2010, of a contemporary dance group within the National Algerian Ballet. This group will comprise of 20 dancers recruited from Algeria’s up-and-coming talent through nationwide auditions. Nya, Abou Lagraa’s next choreographic creation, will give them the perfect opportunity to present the public with a more realistic vision of the Algerian youth of today: diverse, curious and unusual.
Nya, from the Arabic word meaning “trust in life”, promises to be a stunning show with a musical accompaniment that represents the collective memory of France and Algeria and will take the audience on a dreamlike voyage between the two shores of this “Cultural Bridge across the Mediterranean”.