Twelve men stand in a line. Their bodies are sculpted, draped in flowing white fabric. Suddenly, they explode into movement – athletic, muscular, untutored. Freewheeling energy erupts across the stage in broad, physical gestures, gravity-defying leaps, and powerful gymnastic shapes.

These 12 street and hip hop dancers, 11 Algerian and one Burkinabe, breathe dynamic life into French/Algerian choreographer Hervé Koubi’s compelling quest for identity. With touchingly tender interdependence, Koubi’s “brothers” weave threads in a complex dance tapestry that celebrates the ties that connect us all.

One of Europe’s most distinctive choreographers, Hervé Koubi was inspired to create What the day owes to the night by the eponymous novel (translated from Ce que le jour doit a la nuit) by Yasmina Khadra (pen name for an Algerian army officer). In the novel, a young boy is sent from one family to another.