Zimarèl
—France / Guadalopue

Gounouj

Monday 21, SEP
8:00PM

Teatro Ateneo, 
Ciudad del Saber


Founded by choreographer Léo Lérus, Zimarèl is a contemporary dance company based in Guadeloupe whose work explores the intersections between Caribbean identity and contemporary creation.

The company develops choreographic projects deeply connected to territory, language, music, and collective memory, creating works that resonate both locally and internationally. Through dance, Zimarèl seeks to amplify Caribbean narratives and foster dialogue between tradition and contemporary artistic practices.

Léo Lérus trained internationally before returning to Guadeloupe to develop an artistic practice rooted in the realities and imaginaries of the Caribbean. His creations have been presented in festivals and venues across Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, and Latin America.

Zimarèl’s work is characterized by rhythmic complexity, emotional intensity, and a strong physical relationship to landscape, ancestry, and community.


GOUNOUJ


GOUNOUJ emerges from the cultural memory, landscapes, and rhythms of Guadeloupe, weaving together contemporary dance and Caribbean traditions in a vibrant choreographic language rooted in identity, resilience, and collective memory.

The title refers to a Creole expression connected to turbulence, spirals, and states of transformation. Through fluid physicality, grounded movement, and rhythmic intensity, the performers navigate tensions between inheritance and reinvention, individual desire and collective belonging.

Léo Lérus draws from the textures of Caribbean life—its dances, oral traditions, rituals, music, and social dynamics—while placing them in dialogue with contemporary choreographic research. The result is a work that feels both ancestral and radically present.

The piece unfolds through shifting emotional states where celebration, exhaustion, resistance, and joy coexist. Bodies move as if carried by invisible currents, constantly negotiating balance, instability, and connection.

In GOUNOUJ, dance becomes a living archive: a space where memory is transmitted through gesture and where the body carries traces of history, migration, survival, and cultural transformation.


Tech Rider


Country
France / Guadaloupe

Artistic Direction & Coreography
Léo Lérus

Performance
Léo Lérus and collaborators

Production
Zimarèl

With the support of: Région Guadeloupe, DAC Guadeloupe, Institut Français and associated institutions.