W&L Presents Compagnie Hervé Koubi’s ‘Ce que le jour doit á la nuit’ The Jan. 16 performance is part of the Lenfest Center’s Outreach & Engagement Series.

Office of Communications and Public Affairs
January 8, 2025

Editor’s note: The following release was written by Allison Munck ’27 for W&L’s Lenfest Center for the Arts.

The Lenfest Center at Washington and Lee University presents “Ce que le jour doit á la nuit (What the day owes to the night),” performed by the French-based and Algerian-rooted dance troupe Compagnie Hervé Koubi, on Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Keller Theatre in the Lenfest Center for the Arts, followed by a question-and-answer session.

This performance is the fourth installment of the Lenfest Center’s Outreach & Engagement (O&E) Series. Tickets are required and available online or in person at the Lenfest Box Office.

Defying gravity and embodying grace, the performers of “Ce que le jour doit á la nuit” come together in a mesmerizing feat of dance, athleticism and cultural exploration that audiences will never forget.

Hervé Koubi is a French choreographer of Algerian descent who has dedicated himself to bridging cultures and exploring the raw power of expression through dance. His compagnie dances to a range of music spanning centuries and the globe, including the music of Johannes Sebastian Bach and traditional Egyptian and Sufi arrangements. He explores change, group rituals and geographic diversity, creating poetic dioramas reminiscent of Oriental paintings and Islamic architecture.

Koubi’s all-male troupe combines urban and contemporary dance styles into choreography reminiscent of desert sand and spinning dervishes. Each dancer — few are traditionally trained — brings unique movement and authentic personal style to the stage. Together, they create an artistic cohesion built not around identical techniques, but mutual understanding and musical connection. Since its American debut in 2015, Compagnie Hervé Koubi has been internationally praised for its incredible feats of acrobatics, storytelling and technical design.

Jordan Peimer, director of the Lenfest Center, describes “Ce que le jour doit á la nuit” as relentlessly athletic and is thrilled to bring Koubi’s company to W&L to perform and engage with students in the classroom. “The show is evocative of the 21st century, while simultaneously mesmerizing and taking you to another time and place,” he said.

In addition to their Jan. 16 performance, Compagnie Hervé Koubi will work with W&L’s Francophone Student Group in an immersive and empowering evening dialogue and host a W&L Dance masterclass.

Order your tickets online today or call the Lenfest Center box office at 540-458-8000 for ticket purchase information. Box office hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The cost is $33 for adults, $30 for seniors, $27 for W&L faculty and staff and $8 for students.

This performance is sponsored in part by the Class of 1964 Performing Arts Fund, W&L’s Francophone Student Organization and the Department of Theater, Dance, and Film Studies.

For a full list of this season’s performances, visit the Lenfest Center’s website.

The Lenfest Center for the Arts, home of the Department of Theater, Dance, and Film Studies and the Department of Music and Department of Art and Art History is a multi-use facility designed and equipped to accommodate a broad spectrum of the performing arts, including theater, musical theater, opera and operetta, choral and band music, dance and performance art in one energizing complex.