Videos
ALI
2024 | Director
Opera
Ali knows hes has to leave, but is not sure where to go.
Production by La Monnaie + De Munt
Premiere April 21st, 2024 at KVS theater Brussels
No one flees for fun. Ali is 12 years old when he leaves Somalia. He travels the dangerous road from the Horn of Africa to the heart of Europe. Along the way, friendships are made, despite the hardships and hope is found amidst the horror. Ali has to cross several countries, a desert and the Mediterranean along with hundreds of migrants seeking a better future. He arrives at the Brussels South railway station in 2019, alone, without knowing a word of French or Dutch. He is 14 years old …
This incredible narrative is the true story of Ali Abdi Omar, adapted for the opera by composer and multimedia artist Grey Filastine and director Ricard Soler Mallol. Developed in collaboration with Ali himself, with music composed by Filastine, Walid Ben Selim and Brent Arnold, this moving creation reconstructs the stages of his journey. A sensory experience where electronic music, voice, string and wind instruments, percussion and dance pay a vibrant tribute to the resilience of a young boy forced, like so many others, to leave his family and home in order to survive.
Team
Libretto: Ali Abdi Omar, Ricard Soler Mallol | Music: Grey Filastine, Walid Ben Selim, Brent Arnold | Conductor: Michiel Delanghe | Artistic concept and director: Ricard Soler Mallol | Choreography: Alesandra Seutin | Set and costume design: Marie Szernovicz | Lighting Design: Cube.bz | Video Design: Elena Juarez | Dramaturgical Adviser: Andréane Roy | Assistant director: Estelle Renaud | Assistant set design: Coline Fouquet | La Monnaie Chamber Orchestra | Production: La Monnaie | Co-realisation: La Monnaie and KVS| With support by Enoa and Creative Europe
Performance
Ali: Sanele Mwelase | Narrator, mother: Raphaële Green | Narrator, Mohammed the trafficker, Walid, Abdi Aziz: Kamil Ben Hsaïn Lachiri
Trafficker: Mehdi Mojahid | Khadra: Åsa Ewing | Mohammed: Lippeur (Aka François Menda) | Amina: Ndala Muteb | Ashim: Jair Montes | Leila: Andie Dushime | Danse: Yoann Bondo, Abir Gharbi, Redouane Nasry, Mouss (Aka Timiss Sarr) | Community project: Nassim Chiakhi, Daniela Dorot, J.E.J., Nassim El Mounaem, Elisa Hanna, Stiven Mosquera Cuero Mayker, Sofia Pereira Nogueira, Fernanda Saverio Coello, Nerimen Tribak, Kenthia Uwacu