Dance Listings > Performances & Events

L’Alliance New York Announces "Traces of Gounouj" by Léo Lérus (FREE)

Company:
L’Alliance New York

L’Alliance New York announces the North American premiere of dance piece Traces of Gounouj by Léo Lérus on October 3, 2026 at 12:30PM, 2PM, and 3:30PM at Colonels Row on Governors Island, part of the 2026 Crossing The Line Festival and Governors Island Arts’ INTERVENTIONS Performance Series. The event is free, but RSVP is strongly recommended. For more information and to reserve tickets, click here.

This special site-specific short performance brings together dancers Asha Thomas and Robert Cornejo in an intimate duet that offers a sensitive lecture on communication across generations. By placing these two artists at distinct, contrasting moments in their lives and careers, the choreography becomes a living conversation where maturity and youth meet. Their physical dialogue navigates the deep-seated difficulties of finding balance, letting the human relationship play out directly within the environment around them.

While this duet is drawn from excerpts of Gounouj In Situ, it stands as a window into the core themes of Léo Lérus’s broader choreographic work. His practice frequently draws inspiration from the Gwoka tradition and the lush natural beauty of his native Guadeloupe, exploring the island’s natural and cultural ability to adapt to change. Through his movement research, Lérus explores environments in a delicate natural balance and examines how that equilibrium is altered by contemporary input.

By weaving these ideas into the duet, the performance reflects the complex mix of feelings around environmental preservation—using the movement of two different generations to juxtapose disappointment and anger with an enduring hope and a shared movement toward a positive future.

This site-specific adaptation was imagined during Lérus’ Villa Albertine residency in New York City in July 2026.

Guadeloupean choreographer Léo Lérus first learned the traditional Guadeloupean dance ‘Gwoka,’ as well as contemporary and classical dance, with choreographer and teacher Léna Blou. On her advice, he went to study at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) at the age of fourteen to train as a contemporary dancer. In 1999, he began his professional career with premier companies including Batsheva Dance Company, Wayne McGregor Dance Company, and Sharon Eyal Dance Company. In 2010, he began creating his own work, eventually anchoring his artistic research in his Caribbean heritage by blending contemporary dance with the traditional spirit of Gwoka. His notable creations include Entropie, Gounouj In Situ, Gounouj, and Ici, created for the Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin in France. A recipient of the 2026 Villa Albertine residency in New York, Lérus is an associate artist at Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse starting in the 2026/2027 season.

Rain date: October 4, in the event of inclement weather.

Billing Credits

Choreography: Léo Lérus in collaboration with the dancers

Dancers: Robert Cornejo, Asha Thomas

Choreographic assistant: Asha Thomas

Musical concept: Léo Lérus

Musical composition and interactive sound design: Denis Guivarc’h, Gilbert Nouno, Arnaud Bacharach

Recorded percussionist: Arnaud Dolmen

Production : Compagnie Zimarèl / Léo Lérus

Production Credits

Coproduction: VIADANSE – National Choreographic Center of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in Belfort / La Filature, National Scene of Mulhouse / CCN – Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin / POLE-SUD Strasbourg / CNDC Angers / L’Artchipel national scene of Guadeloupe / TROIS-CL Luxembourg / Dispositif Récif – Karukera Ballet. With the collaboration of Moka Production

A production created as part of the ‘Mondes nouveaux’ program supporting artistic creation

Distribution: La Magnanerie

Compagnie Zimarèl / Léo Lérus is subsidized by the Department of Cultural Affairs of Guadeloupe. Léo Lérus is an associate artist of Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse. With the support of the Fund for artistic and cultural exchanges (FEAC), ADAMI, SPEDIDAM and Caisse des dépôts, main sponsor.

L’Alliance New York is an independent, not-for-profit organization committed to providing its audience and students with engaging French language classes and audacious multi-disciplinary programming that celebrates the diversity of francophone cultures and creativity around the world. A welcoming and inclusive community for all ages and all backgrounds, L’Alliance New York is a place where people can meet, learn, and explore the richness of our heritages and share discoveries. L’Alliance New York strives to amplify voices and build bridges from the entire francophone world to New York and beyond.

Crossing The Line is a citywide festival that engages international artists and New York City audiences in artistic discovery and critical dialogue to re-imagine the world around us. Crossing The Line is produced by L’Alliance New York in partnership with leading cultural institutions.

Governors Island Arts, the public arts and cultural program presented by the Trust for Governors Island, creates transformative encounters with art for all New Yorkers, inviting artists and audiences to engage with the issues of our time in the context of the Island’s layered histories, environments, and architecture. Governors Island Arts achieves this mission through temporary and long-term public art installations and exhibitions, an annual Organizations in Residence program in the Island’s historic houses, and the curated multidisciplinary INTERVENTIONS performance series. For more information, visit www.govisland.org/giarts.

Support for Crossing The Line

Air France, Howard Gilman Foundation, Wescustogo Foundation. L'Alliance New York's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the Support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.