PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
FEATURED COMPANIES AND CHOREOGRAPHERS
Artist/Company ANMAR TAHA | IRAQI BODIES Performance The Sleepers Country Iraq/Sweden Venue Theatre Monnot Time/Date 7:00 pm/ Wednesday 20th of April Duration 45 min. About the Based in Sweden, Iraqi Bodies, aims at sustaining research in both theater choreographer/ and dance performance in order to develop a methodology that fits with our company understanding of art theories and that allows us to learn from others and share our thoughts.
Anmar Taha is a choreographer and a performer from Iraq who has settled in Sweden. He has participated in many performances in Europe and the Middle East. He choreographed and directed The Bald Headed and The Sleepers. He is currently preparing a new performance Unidentified.
About the A victim is a person who is not part of a conflict. Conflicts are based on a performance harsh desire of an imaginative power. Sleepers are those who do not make it to the light, simply becoming victims. The performance is about looking for a solution at a time when there is no way to turn, challenging one's dogmas and fears. A quest to seek the source of violence that grows from within; to empty of it and make ready to get filled again.
Artist/Company ENAD MAAROUF Performance Sequence of Movement Country Syria Venue Babel Theatre Time/Date 10:00 pm/ Saturday 23rd of April Duration 30 min. About the Born 1985, Enad Marouf studied Ballet at the Ballet School of Damascus and then at choreographer/ the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts. Since 2006, Enad lives in Germany where he company completed his Choreography Diploma in 2010 at the Ernst Busch College for Dramatic Arts/Berlin. Enad is a freelancing artist living between Berlin and Frankfurt am Main where he works on his own projects and collaborations with artists from different artistic backgrounds. In 2010 Enad, Billy Bultheel and Samuel Forsythe formed the project (New Forms of Life).
About the "I was in complete agreement with Dan Graham's critique on minimalism, performance because I wanted to work closer on social issues and questions. But in relation to what I did in dance and wanted to do with dance. I had the impression that with dance I couldn't deal with such problems. This is actually one of the main reasons why I turned to film." Yvonne Rainer PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
When I see the news on war and violence in the distributed media I cannot deal morally/ethically with it. For what I see in the media is only a stimulation of a picture that suggests emotion, political opinion and rational observation.
Artist/Company GUY NADER Performance Where the Things Hide Country Lebanon/Spain Venue Theatre Monnot Time/Date 7:00 pm/ Friday 22nd of April Duration 45 min. About the Guy Nader (Beirut) is a resident artist in Barcelona. He studied Theatre at the choreographer/ Institute of Fine Arts at the Lebanese University in Beirut and afterwards company completed a Masters from the Physical Theatre School Moveo in Barcelona. Since 2006 he has been creating his own work as well as collaborating with other companies such as Iliacán in Barcelona, Maqamat Dance Theatre Company and Arcinolether Company. He is currently a member of La Intrusa Danza, Spain.
His first production Akala (2006) was created in Beirut. He was invited to present his second piece Btwin Barcelona Beirut as the opening for the Arab Dance Platform during BIPOD 2009. He has recently created a solo work Where The Things Hide that he has presented in BIPOD 2010 and different festivals throu sghout Spain. The piece was awarded first prize in the Masdanza International Dance Festival 2010 in the Canary Islands.
About the Hidden among daily things arise new worlds, new dimensions led by performance metaphors that alter the perception of an immediate reality. The absurd, the paradoxal, the humorous are to be found in our body.
A daily body decontextualised is not only the reflection of what was there, but is related to a consciousness of disappearance. Articulated behind its normal appearance and recognizable and familiar to us all, it hides a weirdness that yields new sensations and different perceptions. Artist/Company HAFIZ DHAOU AND AICHA MʼBAREK | CIE. CHATHA Performance Kawa, solo à deau Country Tunisia/France Venue Theatre Monnot Time/Date 7:00 pm/ Saturday 23rd of April Duration 45 min. PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
About the Aïcha M'Barek and Hafiz Dhaou create works that link the images of their choreographer/ bipolar courses. Aïcha trained at the ballet theatre in Tunis, CNDC Angers- company France and CCN Montpellier, where Hafiz was evolved in E.x.e.r.c.e. In 2005 they founded their company CHATHA. They have created several works: telegram (solo) 2002, Zenzena (duet) 2004, Khallini Aich (quartet) 2006, Khaddem Hazem (quintet) and VU 2008, that have been danced in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and Asia. In 2010, they created Kawa, solo for two; and in January 2011, at the invitation of CCN Ballet de Lorraine/Nancy, France, they created Un des Sens for 28 dancers.
About the Pausing in the shadow of an improbable vision of awakening, Aïcha MʼBarek performance and Hafiz Dhaou extract themselves from the obstacles of production and its economic necessities. They choreographed the solo together in search of the beginning of this energy. The accumulation of 1000 white cups that litter the ground proposes an immediate reading of time and space:
“Coffee, the first cup of coffee, is the mirror of the hand, the hand that turns the drink; coffee is decryption of the open book of the soul, seer of secrets that the day contains.” Mahmoud Darwich in A Memory to Oblivion
Artist/Company HÉLA FATTOUMI | CIE. FATTOUMI/LAMOUREAUX Performance The Dance of Pièze Country Tunisia/France Venue Theatre de Beyrouth Time/Date 10:00 pm/ Friday 22nd of April Duration 50 min. About the Héla Fattoumi & Eric Lamoureux initially formed a collective, called Urvan choreographer/ Letroiga. Their first duet Husaïs was awarded the SACD prize for the best first company work at the Bagnolet Choreographic Competition in 1990, bringing them international recognition. Since 1990, they have been concentrating on their own company and received the SACD prize for New Talents in 1991. They are regularly associated with major choreographic events (Montpellier Danse, Biennale de la Danse de Lyon, Festival dʼAvignon). Since 2004, they have been directors of the Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen/Basse- Normandie.
About the The male duo explores the relationship between two men who are performance alternately peers and rivals. In this dance are instances of barely touching, pressure, impact, improbable points of support, movement in which the energy and the solid mass of the bodies become an invitation to share the sensation of this experience. At once desired, galvanized, entwined and rejected – the bodies of the two dancers are shaped through these exchanges, alternating between sensuality and confrontation.
Malek Chebelʼs ideas about homosensuality are reflected in this work. The expression has anthropological roots «generally, a Middle Eastern PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
point of view, more specifically Arab, in which in the absence of partners of the opposite sex, one carries over to oneʼs peers the excess of sensuality which he cannot otherwise express».
Artist/Company MEY SEFAN | TANWEEN Performance Side Effects Country Syria Venue Babel Theatre Time/Date 10:00 pm/ Thursday 21st of April Duration 50 min. About the After studying classical ballet in Damascus (1988-1998), Mey continued her choreographer/ education in contemporary and classical dance at Frankfurtʼs High School for company Music and Dramatic Arts in Germany. She subsequently earned a diploma in the contemporary methods of dance pedagogy. Besides her work as a choreographer, dancer and dance teacher in many institutions and with several choreographers and artists, she formed the German-Syrian dance company Myosotis and Tanween for Theatrical Dance in Damascus. She has presented her works in many international festivals. She is the founder and director of the Damascus Contemporary Dance Platform, and is part of the Masahat Dance Network (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Ramallah). About the performance
Artist/Company MOHAMED SHAFIK | HOMMA Performance The Smell of the City Country Egypt Venue Babel Theatre Time/Date 10:00 pm/ Wednesday 20th of April Duration 45 min. PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
About the Mohammad Shafik began his career in dance as a member of the National choreographer/ Company of Folkloric Arts (1991–1993). From 1993–2001 he was part of the company Modern Dance Company of the Cairo Opera House, with whom he performed in international festivals and attended workshops. Since 2001, Mohammad Shafik has been working as a choreographer and art director, with a focus on physical theatre. He has created many performances in Egypt such as Obligatory Direction and Homma, and has collaborated with France to produce Hadid (2004), Les Mots de Soqoor El Zakera (2006) and The Witness of the Body (2007). He is currently investigating the mixture of visual art and dance.
About the Every city has streets and alleys that act as short cuts and have a unique performance appearance. Every city has its own specific energy that varies depending on the changes in the fields of politics, culture, economics and mass communication, which affect the appearance of the city internally and externally. The city heavily carries her legs trying to search the remaining ruins of her body, between the walls of her old streets, the smelly cafes and the old buildings. Searching for hope, joy, hate, love and other words that come out of her lost sonʼs mouth. Like a man who is 80-years-old and owns nothing but an old stick that helps him move. His face marked with millions of wrinkles engraved by the events he lived in every street of the city. His bowed body stopped sweating due to the lake of energy and his broken voice lost conscious. Yes, the city is still alive. Yes, we are every street of the city. Yes and yes another yes yes, weʼre wearing a gray coat. Yes, weʼre searching for a smile in the middle of the crowd. Yes, searching for a smile in a broken voice.
Artist/Company MUHANAD RASHEED | IRAQIS BODIES Performance Insomnia Country Iraq/Netherlands Venue Al – Madina Theatre Time/Date 8:30 pm/ Thursday 21st of April Duration 40 min. PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
About the Born in Baghdad in 1985, Muhanad Rasheed is a dancer and choreographer. choreographer/ He has experimented with Butoh and contemporary dance, and further company developed his dance experience through his own research. His first performance as a dancer and choreographer The Last Breath, was awarded prizes such as the ʻBest Performer and Scriptʼ in the Youth Theatre Festival in Jordan 2005. Following, Muhanad created his most important project Iraqis Bodies, a dance group, and Crying of My Mother (2007) the groupʼs first dance performance, which won the danseclick selection in The Netherlands (2009) and Airowaves selections in London (2009). Since January 2009, Iraqis Bodies started touring Europe and the Middle East. The group is currently performing their second performance, Insomnia. Muhanad is also working on a new dance performance, Mourning, with the international dance theatre company in Amsterdam; it was awarded the Swan Price (Best Production Holland) at the Dansdagen Festival in October 2010.
About the Gently they stir, gently rise, the dead are newborn awaken, with ravaged limbs performance and wet souls, gently they sigh in rapt funeral, amazement, who called these dead to dance. Jim Morrison There, where there is no time or place, no materials, neither logic or sense, unknown space, unknown time, they are swimming in echo of silence, without thinking, without a memory and without plans; they meet in that world, forever they are drifting, they donʼt sleep to awake again, their pulseʼs existence is fading out softly and fading in again, they move in their bubble, there is quiet and repose, they stay and belong, having insomnia with nothing to sleep for.
Artist/Company NACERA BELAZA | CIE. NACERA BELAZA Performance Le Temps Scellé Country Algeria/France Venue Al – Madina Theatre Time/Date 8:30 pm/ Wednesday 20th of April Duration 50 min. About the Algerian born Nacera Belaza is a choreographer and dancer who now choreographer/ resides in France. Belaza sought dance as a medium to convey her ideas company after initially studying literature and film, both of which now influence her work.
Belaza set up her own company in 1989. She has since gone on to create a number of works for the stage and theatre including, most recently, Paris-Alger(2003), Le Cri (2008), Les sentinelles (2010), and Le temps scellé (2010).
She has also collaborated with well-known film and theatre directors such as Ayad Ziani Cherif for Nedjma and Gianni Fornet for La Pluie. Belaza regularly teaches in France and abroad.
She is currently working on a new project: setting up a contemporary PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
dance company in Algeria.
About the Creation Lyon Biennial, September 2010 performance And if it were possible to embrace its own disappearance, To scream its revolt to all the world, to say absolutely everything, then to proceed to the meticulous erasure of my own traces, let alone the only thing that remains will be the desire to blend, to merge in the air, in the sky, in the empty space, where the deafening din of our existences comes to resound. Nacera Belaza
Artist/Company OMAR RAJEH | MAQAMAT DANCE THEATRE Performance Facing the Blank Page Country Lebanon Venue Al – Madina Theatre Time/Date 8:30 pm/ Friday 22nd of April Duration 50 min. About the Omar Rajeh, choreographer, dancer and director of Maqamat Dance Theatre, choreographer/ studied Theatre and Dance Arts at universities in Lebanon and England. In company 2002, after having worked and performed with several groups, directors and choreographers in Lebanon and abroad, he founded Maqamat Dance Theatre in Beirut. He has choreographed numerous pieces for the company that have been performed throughout Europe and in Arab countries. Omar is the founder of BIPOD, an annual contemporary dance festival in Beirut, which presents the work of local and international companies. He also recently opened TAKWEEN– Beirut Contemporary Dance School, a new initiative that aims to develop the physical abilities of dance performers and choreographers in Lebanon and the region.
About the My body is onstage. It is not seeking representation. It does not carry within it performance any associations; it is simply being what it is.
My body is misread, misinterpreted, victimized, violated, annihilated. It is not seen in its immediacy; rather it is always associated with a pre-conceived idea, word, image, action.
My meaning is generated out of the absent. My presence is virtual and my absence the “reality”.
In his new solo creation, Omar Rajeh collaborates with sound composer Pablo Palacio to question the presence and materialization of his own body. It is a journey in movement and construction, a spontaneous play of and by the body. Without associations to identity, culture, religion, politics and other labels, would this body be able to stand on its own? And if so, what does it mean?
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
Artist/Company RADHOUANE EL MEDDEB | CIE. De SOI Performance Ce Que Nous Sommes Country Tunisia/France Venue Al – Madina Theatre Time/Date 8:30 pm/ Saturday 23rd of April Duration 50 min. About the Educated at the Institute of Higher Learning of Dramatic Arts in Tunis, choreographer/ Radhouane El Meddeb was rewarded the “Young Hope of Tunisian Theatre” in company 1996 and then chosen to participate to the research workshop at the National Theatre of Toulouse. In Tunisia, he has worked with Tunisian and Arab pioneers of performing arts. He has also collaborated in the design of several choreographic creations.
In 2005 he performed on stage in Pour en Finir avec Moi; then in 2006 created the solo Hûwà, Ce Lui for the Montpellier Dance Festival. His second solo Quelquʼun va Danser in 2008 and his last piece comprised of five dancers May 2010, were both created in coproduction with the National Dance Center in Paris.
About the A piece for 5 dancers built as an introspection about the relationships that unite– performance or divide–human beings in todayʼs society. A violent proposal, a picture of humankind. An epic, tragic, funny, discreet and daring form. The creation develops the modes of alterity, such as love, hate, loneliness, survival instinct, death, disappearance, spiritual quest, indifference and exclusion. Small stories containing larger ones that will lead to the same feelings. Just like in our daily lives, with our dreams, disappointments and fantasy. The first notion of our identities is our body. Artist/Company SAÏD AIT EL MOUMEN | CIE. ANANIA Performance Athar (Duo) Country Morocco Venue Theatre de Beyrouth Time/Date 7:00 pm/ Saturday 23rd of April About the After studying percussions for ten years, Saïd Aït El Moumen chose to pursue choreographer/ contemporary dance and trained with: George Appaix, Hella Fattoumi, Sam company Louwick, Bernardo Montet, Mathilde Monnier and Fatou Traoré, to name a few. In 2002, he created his first solo wahdi, which made a pulse for his personal research that is today based on the relationship between the body and the environment, which surrounds it like a source of creation. In the same year, he joined Taoufiq Izeddiou and Bouchra Ouizguen to found the first Moroccan company of contemporary dance ANANIA, during Fina Ken' Ti... in which he was a dancer. After ensuring a teaching position in Al Mokhtabar, a formation organized by ANANIA Company, he was invited by the national Choreographic Center of Montpellier to take part in E.X.E.R.C.E residence PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
2004. Immediately after, he worked on the musical design of creation Cœur sans corps of Taoufiq Izeddiou and revived wahdi.
In parallel, he works on projects of artistic interdisciplinary exchange: a space of choreographic exchange "open dialogues" for the Teachers of Dance in Biella, Italy in collaboration with Fondazione Pistoletto; Cross Borders artistic tour of the Levant (Lebanon, Palestine) (dance, visual arts); research on Moroccan music with Increpaciòn Danza Co.; coorganizer of On Marche the international contemporary dance festival of Marrakech. About the The extreme body is not limited to a movement towards death but goes towards a performance renewed desire to live. Sketching the traces that religion has left on the body, Said Ait El Moumen and his brother Zakaria experience and deliver a physical memory of the mind. No jinns, no demons, no angels. The absolute is an empty space. Men are introduced to its presence then collide violently at its corners. Man handles a trance and then reconciles his memories, the sacred marks, then abandons the sacrifice. Ceremony of joy and sorrow, between punishment and prayer, the soul needs: chaos of bones, dance of muscles, blood traces, as if the ecstasy was to fall outside of oneself. Everything is passing.
Artist/Company TAOUFIZ IZEDDIOU | CIE. ANANIA Performance Aléef Country Morocco Venue Theatre Monnot Time/Date 7:00 pm/ Thursday 21st of April Duration 30 min. About the After receiving a baccalaureate in applied sciences, Taoufiq Izzediou graduated choreographer/ in architecture. Thereafter, he practiced acting, boxing, football, various trades of company the handcraft industry and, finally, dance, which he studied in France and Morocco. In November 2000, Taoufic meet Bernardo Montet, an encounter that proved to be significant. He worked with him for eight years while, in parallel, fighting for dance in his native country Morocco.
In 2001, with the support of Bouchra Ouizguen and Said Ait Elmoumen, Taoufiq created the first contemporary dance company in Morocco. In 2003, he formed Al Mokhtabar, the first contemporary dance-training program in Marrakech. With seven creations to his repertoire, Taoufic has been recognized by some of the largest European scenes like Word Music Theater (2004/05) in Holland, Montpellier Danse (2006), and Les Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis (2008).
His last creation Aataba is currently touring Africa, Europe and Latin America. In December 2005, Taoufiq and Compagnie Anania co-organized and directed the first annual choreographic meetings of Marrakech and International Dance Festival, On Marche.
In 2007 he received a State Diploma in Contemporary Dance.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
He is currently touring his solo Aléef and, since May 2010, has been organizing a new professional, two-year formation Almokhtabar II, in Morocco.
About the Today I broke my tooth while I wanted to bite the bars of the window. I preciously performance keep the taste of iron on my skinned tongue.
Two fathers, one gave me his eyes, the other his glance. Maybe it is the contrary. Who knows! Were you sleeping?
If I leave, I die. If I stay, I die too.
Keeping emptiness in tension. You have just coughed on me.
I have a feeling that goes through my veins and invites me to dance, dance, dance. I am in a mad rage. My energy is insane, wise, slow, contained, tired, exhausted, controlled… I have heard so often this question “Who am I” that I donʼt want to explain it anymore. Not dad, not mummy.
Dad, mummy, donʼt make babies! My only family is me?
What is your dance? What is my dance?
Am I Moroccan? Am I African? Am I Mediterranean? Am I Arab? Am I a citizen of the world? Me and the other?
The freedom of Afghanistan ‡ remove the burka. Obama President ‡ the end of racism. Letʼs stamp on the ground all together and breathe like dogs.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
CHOREOGRAPHERS AND PERFORMERS
Artist/Company ALI CHAHROUR | MAQAMAT DANCE THEATRE | TAKWEEN COLLECTIVE Performance Colorless Country Lebanon Venue Theatre de Beyrouth Time/Date 5:00 pm/ Friday 22nd of April Duration 30 min. About the Ali Chahrour was born in Beirut in 1989. He received a Theatre choreographer/ Diploma from The Lebanese University in 2010. He has company participated in many workshops in contemporary dance and theater. He is a graduate of Takween-Beirut Contemporary Dance School 2010 and is a member of the Takween Collective. He has been working with Maqamat Dance Theatre Company since 2008. He recently completed a residency with Sasha Waltz and Guests in Berlin in March 2011.
About the The performance tackles the trilogy of body-memory-object and performance the relationship between effect and effectiveness, rejection and attraction among these elements to create a new trilogy: body- mind-new body that highlights features of rejection and apartness.
As time passes this trilogy changes, creating a distance between the person and his object such that it continuously disappears, rendering the object invisible and not to be found; the memories imprisoned inside it create a state of complete emptiness and coldness.
This state is not only between the person and his object as it encroaches on the personʼs relationships, such that the people close to him become fixed unmovable objects with an internality to which there is no way to react. A gap is created in this state. The person builds a different, fixed, cold, empty, unsaturated, world void of any emotion or feeling.
Artist/Company ANNE GOUGH | TAKWEEN COLLECTIVE Performance Attack On… Country USA/Lebanon Venue Maqamat Dance Studio Time/Date 2:00 pm/ Saturday 23rd of April Duration 10 min. About the Anne Gough is a dancer and researcher currently based in Beirut, choreographer/ Lebanon. She is a member of the Takween Dance Collective, the company result of three months of intensive study with Maqamat Dance PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
Theater in Beirut. With Takween she had the opportunity to study and explore with renowned dance artists. She teaches contemporary technique, yoga and creative movement at Maqamat and curates an informal Dance Film Series. In addition she is conducting research on food systems in Gaza for the Institute of Palestine Studies and is passionate about the intersections between food and culture.
About the The screen heightens the geographical distance between performance geographical contexts and serves to further sever the average viewer from brutal physical realities in the global landscape. The screen serves to document but how do we physically conceive of data and figures? Can we manifest information so purposefully hidden? What are the consequent physical ramifications for our public discourse?
Artist/Company BASSAM ABU DIAB | TAKWEEN COLLECTIVE Performance Not Connected Country LEBANON Venue Theatre de Beyrouth Time/Date 5:00 pm/ Thursday 21st of April Duration TBA About the Bassam abou diab, dancer and actor. Graduated from institute of choreographer/ fine arts, worked on several performances. company This performance is created and performed by Bassam abou diab.
About the No connected... performance Itʼs terribly shocking when you are suddenly disconnected from the world. A clock with no time. A frame inside a frame. Stories hung on corners, on the walls. I am not connected but I am still moving. The city is floating, bullets everywhere, we hang in a chain.
Artist/Company CLARA SFEIR | TAKWEEN COLLECTIVE Performance Flash Country LEBANON Venue Theatre de Beyrouth Time/Date 5:00 pm/ Friday 22nd of April Duration 15 min. About the Started dance with Caracalla Dance Theater, modern and folklore choreographer/ dance company. Took part of Takween 2009, and Takween 2010. company Participated in Bipod 2010 within Takween Night. Member of Takween Collective, and Maqamat Dance Theater.
About the I know what I am fleeing, but I donʼt know whatʼs next. performance Artist/Company DALIA EL-ABED PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
Performance I donʼt know what this dance is about, but it must be about something Country Egypt Venue Maqamat Dance Studio Time/Date 2:00 pm/ Saturday 23rd of April Duration 20 min. About the Dalia El Abd received a BFA in theatre studies from the American choreographer/ University in Cairo. She graduated from the Alvin Ailey American company Dance Centre and has since been working as an independent choreographer/dancer and teacher based in Cairo, Egypt.
About the This dance is the culmination of an experimental, unstructured performance rehearsal process. Here one enters the rehearsal space without preplanned knowledge of what the dance will be about. Through this process the dance reveals itself.
Artist/Company DANYA HAMMOUD | ZOUKAK THEATRE COMPANY Performance Mahalli/Local Country Lebanon Venue Maqamat Dance Studio Time/Date 2:00 pm/ Thursday 21st of April Duration 30 min. About the Danya Hammoud received a BA in Theatre in 2003 from the Fine choreographer/ Arts Institute in Beirut. After working with several directors in company Lebanon, she continued her studies at the CNDC Superior School of Contemporary Dance in France and in 2010, received a Masters degree in Dance Studies from Paris 8 University. She is also a co-founder of Zoukak Theatre Company and Cultural Association. Her works include: Meen el Battal? (2007) produced by Y.A.T.F., F.A.Q. with Antonio Tagliarini, produced by Carovana (Italy), Alkantara (Portugal), Hamlet Machine, 2009 and 2010 (by Zoukak Theatre Company) and Sʼapprocher 2010, produced by LʼOfficina (France).
About the Mahalli is a research that questions three aspects of the body: the performance body as a form/image, the body as a surviving tool and the body as action. The bodyʼs constant “being towards” enables us to take a position in each context, therefore I chose to work on the interrelation between the Body and Space by confronting them as two entities; when one is modified the other is transformed and vice versa.
This presentation is part of a work in process and research for a possible performance.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
Artist/Company LEYYA TAWIL Performance Thieves Country Syria/U.S.A. Venue Maqamat Dance Studio Time/Date 2:00 pm/ Saturday 23rd of April Duration 50 min. About the Choreographer/director Leyya Mona Tawil is working in choreographer/ collaboration with choreographer/composer Muhanad Rasheed company and Iraqi band the Lazy Sleepers (Zaid Hassan, Mustafa Essami, and Majed Rasheed) towards a new dance and music production entitled THIEVES. Tawil and Rasheed have extensive performance credits internationally with thier respective companies: Dance Elixir and Iraqis Bodies.
About the THIEVES paints a raw, alternatively grotesque and tender picture performance of a shadowy humanity. It asks: What is contained in the skin? Tawil and Rasheed measure their personal narratives against three archetypal symbols: The Bandit, The Wolf and The Killer. THIEVESʼ original score is performed live by the Lazy Sleepers. Artist/Company MAHMOUD RABIEY | TAKWEEN COLLECTIVE Performance The Virtual Image Country Egypt Venue Maqamat Dance Studio Time/Date 2:00 pm/ Friday 22nd of April Duration 15 min. About the choreographer/ company About the The aim of this research is to develop new movement. I have been performance working on the relationship between mind and body and how this relationship can be used to create movement. This solo is about creating a virtual image within the performerʼs mind and how this image will affect the body to create movement.
Artist/Company MOHAMED FOUAD | KAAF DANCE COMPANY Performance Can You Smell It? Country Egypt Venue Maqamat Dance Studio Time/Date 2:00 pm/ Thursday 21st of April Duration 10 min. About the Mohamed Fouad graduated from the Theatre Arts Department choreographer/ at Alexandria University. He participated in many workshops company for dance and theater with professional trainers from around the world. He has also worked as a performer, dancer and choreographer for around 25 performances and has directed 3 performances. His piece Cafeteria was presented in Egypt and PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
the Festival de Carthage in 2009. Mohamed was also the first Egyptian dancer to win a danceweb scholarship in impulstanz festival in Vienna. He is currently building a new company Kaaf.
About the The main concept of this performance revolves around the city performance and how it burns inhabitants to the point where the smell of smoldering human flesh is normal. The city also affects the intimate and instinctive relationship between men and women within the context of the Egyptian community, as so does the current social condition.
Artist/Company AURELIEN ZOUKI | TAKWEEN COLLECTIVE | COLLECTIF KAHRABA Performance I drank the sea and my fire still burns Country Lebanon Venue Theatre de Beyrouth Time/Date 5:00 pm/ Thursday 21st of April Duration 30 min. About the A student of Takween–Beirut Contemporary Dance School choreographer/ 2010, Aurelien initially worked as an actor after having studied company theatre in Paris. He performed in many theatrical and choreographic creations in France before he decided to return to Lebanon in 2007. With a group of performers and artists, he founded Collectif Kahraba with whom he creates several performances that tour both Lebanon and France.
About the It is a question of allowing oneself to sink voluntarily, performance to not drown in waiting, to immerse deep waters and be cleansed of fears, yearnings and the pains of mourning.
It is mostly about the ascent of the unburdened body that fights and struggles to take foot and rise again, to undulate and spring, regardless of the current that carries or constrains it, to bound in confidence, to find the light, to find the surface.
Artist/Company SHARAF DARZAID Performance Follow the Light Country Palestine Venue Maqamat Dance Studio Time/Date 2:00 pm/ Friday 22nd of April PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
Duration 15 min. About the Sharaf DarZaid was born in Palestine in 1987 to a refugee family choreographer/ that always viewed education as key to emancipation and self- company realization. He completed high school, and then went on to study at Birzeit University, graduating in 2009 with a B.A. in Business Administration. In parallel with high school and college, he was – and still is – a dancer, trainer and choreographer in El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe. He is working professionally as artistic coordinator in the troupe and is the dance school coordinator at the Popular Art Centre.
About the Follow the Light is a contemporary art performance that mixes performance different artistic disciplines such as dance, music, live instrumental, voice and videos. The performance is mainly about representing issues and images from the heart of Arab Palestinian society. The idea of the “performance” is based on the movement of the audience in small groups through a dark old house, where they watch sequences and the light is their guide in the journey.
Artist/Company YENDI NAMMOUR | TAKWEEN COLLECTIVE | DOOSA JUU Performance A line between two squares Country Lebanon/Austria/France Venue Maqamat Dance Studio Time/Date 2:00 pm/ Friday 22nd of April Duration 15 min. About the Yendi Nammour studied contemporary dance at the Conservatory choreographer/ of Vienna (Austria) and at the CDC (Center for Choreographic company Development) Toulouse; she was also a student of Takween Beirut Contemporary Dance School. She has worked with choreographers such as Virginia Heinen, Christine Fricker, Zéline Zonzon, Marco Berrettini, Anne Le Batard, etc. and has recently started her own research as a young choreographer.
About the The solo “A line between two squares”(working title) is an performance autobiographic work and based on the attempt of the choreographer and dancer to reconnect her origins. As the daughter of an Austrian mother and a Lebanese father, but having grown up in Austria, she tries to explore and to find deeper understanding for her Lebanese half.
Artist/Company Meryem Jazouli Performance Kelma ... un cri à la mère Country Morocco Venue Babel Theatre PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
Time/Date 10:00 pm/ Saturday 23rd of April Duration 30 min. About the Meryem Jazouli studied dance in Paris with many choreographers choreographer/ such as R. Hammadi, J-M Boitière Christine Bastin and C. company Lansselle, and participated in several projects with choreographer Zygotte Coy. In 1995 she returned to Morocco with the performance " Co…incidences..." staged by choreographer Franco-Malian Fatou Traore. Followed by several projects, such as “Temps de chien” in 2005, written for two performers, and "La robe de tantale" in 2007, another duet, co-written with dancer and choreographer Mouna Sekkat. 2008 was also the beginning of partnership with La Source du Lion (collective of visual artists). At the end of that year, Meryem started working on "Kelma ... un cri à la mère" that was later on performed in several festivals in countries such as France, Belgium, Morocco and the United Kingdom. At that time she had started working closely with Mouna Sekkat on developing an awareness campaign targeting a different kind of contemporary dance audience that includes schools and orphanages. Together they eventually opened a space called "Darja", by artists and performers for training and experimentation.
About the “In order to continue my conversation with her, I had to dance. performance Dance for her, up against her, with her”. The immeasurable injustice and cruelty of a disappearance are like a thorn in the flow of time. The frequent mourning operates like the engine of the creation. The works of the poet Mahmoud Darwich teaches the Moroccan choreographer that brutality is in opposition to beauty. The dancer constructs and brings into play a flow between contemplation and expression of her pain, which she found necessary to transfer into her art. The feeling of exile that she felt during the years she spent in France, brought back the emotions she felt when her mother passed away. The solo Kelma, meaning word, is a search of a “vital meeting with absence”. It takes the form of a dialogue between silence and the long phantasmal silhouette, in which the woman replaces herself with the emotion that she is transferring. “We have come to choose pain as lifeʼs engine, which has become precious in maintaining the link …” M.Kelemenis PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
SITE SPECIFIC WORKS
Artist/Company ALIA HAMDAN Performance Body - Image Country Lebanon Venue Al – Madina Small Theatre Time/Date 4:00 pm/ Friday 22nd of April Duration 25 min. About the Alia Hamdan engaged with contemporary dance at the Centre choreographer/ Chorégraphique de Montpellier while pursuing her studies in philosophy and company urbanism in France. For the past 5 years, she has worked in the urban field and has performed several times in various contexts such as the BIPOD Festival (Beirut and Amman), Montpellier Festival (Montpellier) and the Metropolis Festival (Copenhagen).
About the Body-Image explores the possibility of turning the body into a rhythmic performance entity for the image: to do for the image what the music does for the body. Or, the image will be used as a modulator of movement and a morpher of the body: to play visual rhythms as a basis for movement and to develop images as dimensions of the screen-body. The performance consists of a series of encounters that explore these relations.
Artist/Company DIANA SABRI Performance Rock Steady Country Lebanon/Palestine/Greece Venue Maqamat Dance Studio Time/Date 2:00 pm/ Saturday 23rd of April Duration 10 min. About the Diana recently completed her MA in Choreography at Dartington College of choreographer/ Arts. Throughout her studies, Diana directed and collaborated with dancers company and performers in the fields of theatre, music, film and fine art.
Improvisation is a core process towards developing her work. She continues to explore an interdisciplinary approach to choreography and performance through engaging and exploring a variety of themes and social issues. She has been teaching movement improvisation at Cati in Istanbul and is currently involved in a film that is taking place in Athens and Beirut.
About the This improvisation piece is an exploration of expressing uncertainty and performance the struggle for clarity or stability. It is part of the development of a solo piece, which focuses on the issue of identity within a conceptual framework.
The site-specific location has been a stimulus for her starting point, which aims to question the notion of 'stability'. Diana is traveling to the PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
Middle East as part of the journey and process for creating her solo piece, Going Nuts With Pistachios.
Artist/Company MIA HABIS | MAQAMAT DANCE THEATRE Performance Permanent State of a Transitory Phase Country Lebanon Venue Al – Madina Theatre Time/Date 8:00 pm/ Wednesday 20th of April Duration 20 min. About the Mia Habis studied French literature, advertising and acting. She started choreographer/ dancing at a very early age and has participated in different dance workshops company in Lebanon and abroad: Classical, Contemporary, African, Oriental and Buto, to name a few. She also practiced Kali Sikaran Philipino Martial Art for several years.
Her dance background is mainly in classical ballet, which she practiced as a performer and teacher for over ten years. She has been dancing and teaching with Maqamat Dance Company since 2008.
Item was her first choreography which debuted in BIPOD 09.
“ Mia Habis, the dancer who unsettles the audience (…), conveys emotions with clarity and grace, captures futility with a tragic beauty.” – Laura Wilkinson. Daily Star
About the People often bring their day and habits with them to the theatre. Permanent performance State of a Transitory Phase pushes one to slow down, stop and take the time to realize their own presence and their connection to others.
The interactive installation is an invitation to allow us to open up to the immediate occasion of reacting, being embarrassed, indifferent, amused or simply surprised.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Arab Dance Platform | SECOND EDITION | 20th – 24th of April 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon Organized by Leymoun- Arab Contemporary Dance Network & Maqamat Dance Theatre
EXHIBITION
Artist/Company Rima Maroun Performance Mushrooms and Fig Leaves Country Lebanon Venue Time/Date About the Artist Born in 1983, Rima Maroun is a Lebanese photographer and performer based in Beirut. After graduating with a master in photography in 2006 she co-founded ''collectif Kahrabaʼʼ, a group of artists using visual and performing arts as a means of expression, within which she has performed and directed more than 5 performances. She developed different photography projects and received in 2008 the Anna Lindh Foundation Mediterranean award for dialogue through art and culture for her series of photographs entitled "Murmurs..." and has been since exhibiting her work in several countries including Italy, Hungary, Syria, France, Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Montenegro and Lebanon. Her work took part of the second edition of the Photoquai Biennale of Paris in 2009 and has been nominated for the Prix pictet as well as and the KLM Paul Huff award.
Since 2009 she is actively implicated in Dance and has participated in the 2 editions of Takween BCDC 2009 and 2010.
Photographer in the performance: Mushrooms and fig leaves, directed by Omar Rajeh, presented in the 2011 Sharjah Biennale.
About the A Dance Installation Performance performance In this new creation, Omar Rajeh looks into the body; more precisely, he attempts to deconstruct, alienate, re-discover, and question our perception of the human body system today. Highlighting different body parts and constituents, the work re-thinks the mechanism, qualities and dynamics of the living installation. The body is seen in opposition to its virtual, still framed image, and the space that envelops it. The body is within architecture.