CORPI RESISTENTI

12-13 november
Palladium | Opificio Telecom Italia

Coreographers:
Selma e Sofiane Ouissi, Tunisia
Mahmoud Rabiey “Vito”, Egitto
Muhanad Rasheed, Iraq
Fares Fettane, Algeria




Opificio Telecom Italia | 12th november | SELMA E SOFIANE OUISSI
ici(s) (coreography broadcast on skype from Paris and Tunisi)
Following, the Corpi Resistenti meeting
Palladium | 13th november
MUHANAD RASHEED | B-DreaM
MAHMOUD RABIEY (VITO) | Enshrined
FARES FETTANE | La fin ce n’est que le commencement
 

With "Corpi resistenti" we focus on a group of dancers and dance companies representing the new dance scenario of the Maghreb and the Middle East in a series of performances and a meeting with the Rome public. An epochal period of turmoil and revolution is on-going in many countries from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans, a geopolitical region where either the total lack or at best, scarce degree of freedom of expression has rendered the creation of choreographic works almost impossible, thus limiting the participation of the public. This has not prevented the birth of a series of innovative choreographic realities which have very often reached European shores, and in particular, France. This is a significant phenomenon which has developed in parallel with the civil societies of countries which are today's protagonists of change. This change has also given rise to a veritable cultural revolution in the scenic and choreographic arts. Obviously, such change does not come without difficulties: an example is the duo Selma and Sofiane Ouissi who consider themselves a single artist but obliged to work in two different countries, she in France and he in Tunisia. Therefore, they are not motivated by a trendy new technology when they choose to present their virtual performance “Ici(s)” with Sofiane dancing in Tunis and Selma in Paris, each interconnected via Skype with the live transmission of their performances to the Rome audience. At the end of the performance they then open the event to a discussion on this experience, again bridging the physical gap by using internet, thus creating a platform for the public and other dancers and choreographers involved in the “Corpi resistenti” project to meet and dialogue. Also part of the project is Ornella D'Agostino, the inspiring creator of the project, the Egyptian director Ahmed El Attar, the cinema critic and lecturer at the University of Manouba (Tunis) Tahar Chikhaoui and the director of Babelmed.net, Nathalie Galesne. It is surprising how these choreographers and dancers ―although already masters of contemporary international dance ―have not lost their cultural roots which seem to pervade their work and is manifested in certain styles and themes and their attention towards the mystical and metaphysical aspects of existence. Now working in the Netherlands thanks to a bursary, the Iraqi dancer Muhanad Rasheed deals with the abstract in his new creation "B Dream", a solo performance  inspired by his first work "A Dream", in which the sensation of the passage of time is deliberately veiled and hidden. With "Enshrined", Vito ―the stage name of Mahmoud Rabiey ―deals with the relationship between man and God and how this reflects on the community and on the relations between individuals: his approach to this issue is inspired by Sufism and even his choreography takes on the movements of the Sufi ritual dances.
Another exemplary performance is that of Fares Fettane: he started to dance hip hop at a very early age to then dedicate his energies to folk and traditional dance. He met the choreographer Nacera Belaza ―also guest of this edition of the festival ―for the first time soon after his arrival in France and it was then that his love for contemporary dance was born. Today he has founded his own dance company, the Cultural Cooperative "Wach", with which he presents his choreography "La fin ce n’est que le commencement" (The end is just the beginning), which oscillates between day-to-day emotions and a spiritual, trance-like dimension .