Danced lecture · The history of locking
A living journey through the history of locking, from Los Angeles to contemporary stages, combining storytelling, archives, dance and audience interaction.
Living archive · Artistic portfolio
Research & Transmission
Memory · Groove · Archives · Arts education · Lectures
At Zion, transmission is more than an addition to a performance: it is a way to keep a culture moving, build trust and give participants tools to express themselves, understand and take part.
Transmission is at the heart of Compagnie Zion. It goes beyond learning a movement vocabulary: it places a culture in context, passes on memory, builds connections and opens up spaces for practice.
Portfolio
Thinking in motion, documented and shared.
This page brings together the company’s core areas of work: locking research, danced lectures, arts engagement, site-specific formats, digital tools, programmes for emerging artists and productions that generate transmission.
The approach is deliberately clear: a living archive in which short texts, photographs and links allow visitors to explore the work as a complete artistic portfolio.
Our offer · Arts engagement & transmission
Available formats
Exhibition · De Compton à la Creuse
An evolving educational exhibition on the history of locking, its key figures, its transmission and its roots in local communities. Presented at La Quincaillerie in Guéret, then at PANG in Felletin.
Locking / funkstyles workshops
Introductory and advanced workshops exploring the groove, foundations, musicality and collective energy of funk dances.
Masterclass
A format for dancers exploring precision, interpretation, rhythm and choreographic composition.
Perform Nexus
Teaching an excerpt from the work to an amateur, school or semi-professional group, with the possibility of a public sharing.
Bespoke arts education projects
Projects developed with schools, local authorities or partner venues, tailored to the participants, local context and educational goals.
Community activation / Lack Of Funk
Jams, gatherings, training sessions, battles and participatory formats that get a local community moving and support the next generation.
Research, archives and digital platform
A memory project dedicated to locking, combining archive collection, interviews, historical context and digital resources.
Practical information
Formats, audiences & technical requirements
Possible formats
- Danced lecture: 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes
- Locking workshop: 1 hour 30 minutes to 3 hours
- Arts education programme: 3 to 20 sessions
- Exhibition: 12 to 20 visuals, adaptable to the venue
- Teaching an excerpt: a short intensive or an extended programme with a public sharing
- Community activation: jam, battle, gathering, training session or participatory format
Who is it for?
- All audiences
- School groups from lower secondary level onwards
- Introductory formats can be adapted for ages 7+
- Amateur and professional dancers
- Conservatoires, primary and secondary schools, social centres, associations, youth organisations and audiences with limited access to cultural venues
Technical requirements vary by format
- A room or quiet space
- Sound system
- Projector for lectures
- Microphone depending on audience size
- Screen or white wall
- Formats can be adapted for theatres, studios, sports halls, libraries, multipurpose rooms and unconventional spaces
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Locking research
Locking Memory
Locking is more than a technique: it is a history born in clubs, on stages, in films and through oral transmission. Working with the Centre National de la Danse, the company documents movements, lineages, stories and archives to make the memory of movement visible.
This work is developing into educational resources, a book and a digital platform supported by DRAC, Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine and CND.
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Speech · Demonstration · Groove
Danced lectures
Danced lectures combine historical context, choreographic demonstration and direct engagement with the audience. They make funk cultures accessible while keeping them alive: history is understood through sight, listening and the sensation of groove.
These formats travel to schools, cultural institutions and festivals, meeting audiences as they discover this memory.
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Arts education · Communities · Exhibitions
Arts engagement & communities
Workshops, gatherings, school projects, exhibitions and arts and cultural education programmes extend the stage into spaces of shared practice.
De Compton à la Creuse traces the movement between Los Angeles, Paris and rural Creuse. Presented at La Quincaillerie in Guéret and then at PANG in Felletin, the exhibition reaches people in their own communities. Partnerships with Culture Connectée and Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine ground the research in direct relationships with residents, teachers, artists and institutions.
Exhibition video
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Site-specific · Hybrid formats
Street performances & immersive formats
Streets, urban settings and unconventional spaces become places of encounter and friction. Movement meets passers-by, architecture, noise and proximity, taking transmission beyond its usual setting.
These appearances reveal a culture in circulation, alive beyond the display case.
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Creation · Training
J Clan
J Clan brings together a new generation of artists through locking, funk cultures and a collective way of learning through movement. Creation itself becomes a transmission programme: rehearsal, listening, heritage and new perspectives.
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Resources · Archives
Digital platform
The digital platform turns research into accessible resources: archives, educational references, documentation, records of lectures and content for teachers, artists and curious audiences.
It extends transmission beyond the event and allows the knowledge gathered to keep circulating.
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Emerging artists · Locking · Funk
Lack Of Funk
Lack Of Funk is a development programme supporting artists from funk and locking cultures through spaces to practise, create, perform and connect.
It links memory, the stage and the future: the artists it supports become performers, connectors and transmitters of knowledge in their own right.
Visible traces
Photographs of research, performance and transmission.
