At ZemmourBallet, dance is a tool for reflection, dialogue, and engagement. Our works, such as La Brisure des Vases, Lemniscate, L’Enfer d’un monde, and Les évadé.e.s de la moraline, address major societal themes: collective memory, power dynamics, and mechanisms of oppression. Each creation questions the world around us, aiming to awaken consciousness and evoke emotion.

Our approach rests on three pillars: form, meaning, and emotion. By weaving an accessible yet demanding choreographic language, we reach both newcomers and enthusiasts, bringing together a diverse audience from childhood to adulthood. Our performances attract between 1,000 and 1,500 spectators per show, demonstrating the universal resonance of our work.

Fieldwork Before the Studio
Our creative process begins long before the stage. Once a theme emerges, we conduct extensive immersion to anchor the piece in tangible reality. Over several months, Nicolas and Marc Zemmour gather testimonies in collaboration with field actors: care homes, addiction support centers, schools, and mental health professionals.

In parallel, we offer dance-therapy workshops led by a certified professional, giving participants a space to express themselves through movement. We provide private rehearsals and discussions with the entire artistic team, combined with cultural mediation with our partners. These exchanges enrich our reflection and dramaturgy.

Creating Through Épaissisme
Our artistic approach follows Épaissisme, a movement initiated by Nicolas and Marc Zemmour. This method explores the density of gesture, time, and thought in choreographic creation. Rather than prioritizing simplicity or a single idea, we cultivate layers, convolutions of meaning, and bodily states, offering the audience a continually resonant sensory and reflective experience. Through this process, movement does not merely illustrate an idea—it reveals the complexity of the world, playing with ambiguity, opposition, paradox, and fragmentation.

From Research to Stage
After the immersion phase, we dedicate an entire year to philosophical and artistic reflection, transforming gathered insights into choreographic concepts. Only then do we enter the studio with performers, exploring these ideas through body and space.

This demanding process gives the artist a vital role: revealing the spirit of our time. Beyond mere entertainment, dance allows us to denounce, question, and imagine new possibilities. For us, art is an act—a breath of thought in motion.

We are proud to collaborate with Estrie visual artist Sans Cravate for our posters, each a true work of art. Discover his universe: sanscravate.ca