Episode 30: Paris-based choreographer Leila Ka on exploring femininity through dance and dresses

Paris-based Leïla Ka began her dance journey by engaging with hip-hop and street dance styles before discovering contemporary and modern dance. Notably, she danced in ‘May B’ the seminal work by renowned French choreographer Maguy Marin, which is a powerfully theatrical response to the writings of Samuel Beckett.

Leila now imbues her own choreography with the powerful theatricality she experienced while working with Marin. Her first solo, Pode Ser, premiered in 2018 and has gone on to be performed extensively, receiving many awards and accolades around the world. Her first evening length group piece, Maldonne, premiered at La Garance, Scène nationale de Cavaillon, where Leila is an associate artist, at the end of 2023. The work explores multiple identities within femininity as the cast changes between 40 different dresses, from ball gowns to wedding dresses to nighties.

Described by Le Monde as a demonstration of the Paris-based choreographer’s “feminist commitment,” it has now been nominated for The Bloom Prize, a new award for works by emerging choreographers that is part of London’s Sadler’s Wells’ inaugural Rose International Dance Prize. The work will be performed twice on the theater’s Lilian Baylis stage in February before the winner is announced, marking Leila's UK debut.

Ahead of the performances, I couldn’t wait to speak to Leila to find out more about her creative process, the themes that drive her work, and how her experiences as a dancer and choreographer have shaped her unique approach to movement and storytelling.