UK-NORTH AFRICA DANCE North African contemporary dance at the Shubbak Festival

Record ID: 143724

  • Title: UK-NORTH AFRICA DANCE North African contemporary dance at the Shubbak Festival
  • Date: 13th August 2015
  • Summary: LONDON, UK (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEDJMA HADJ BENCHELABI, ALGERIAN DANCE CURATOR SAYING: "These young people they don't have school; they do not have possibility, opportunity to have an education in dance. Like a long term or mid-term education in dance. There is initiatives from choreographer in Morocco and Tunisia for the Maghreb that they do offer - gi
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADWUMPIF3L8JLMAJRGYWSX4GF6
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Presented at 'The Place,' London's centre for contemporary dance, Tunisian Radhouance El Meddeb's work "Au Temps ou les Arabs Dansaient" or "When the Arabs Used to Dance" is a radical look back to the 1960s, a heyday of popular culture in North Africa.
    After independence countries such as Egypt made films showing singing, dancing and smoking divas. They were viewed all over the region.
    El Meddeb explores this past albeit this time with a company of male dancers. "When the Arabs Used to Dance" was recently performed at the Shubbak Festival, London's largest biennial showcase of contemporary Arab culture.
    But according to the choreographer, there's little support for artists working in dance across North Africa.
    "The big problem is one of institutions. First of all it's about the relationship between the ministry of culture and the art of dance. I think that the choreographers from these countries - those from the countries of North Africa - who live abroad need to get together to see how to create exchange programs that would promote the art of dance within these institutions," said el Meddeb.
    Renown Algerian choreographer, Nacera Belaza brought her piece "Into the Night" to the festival. Composed of three distinct works: "Les Oiseaux" ("The Birds"), "La Nuit" ("The Night") and "La Traversee" ("The Journey"), it was a form of poetry in motion combining various artistic genres.
    Belaza's dance company is based in France where she has lived and worked since she was a young child.
    "First of all I was strongly influenced by literature, poetry, cinema. They were, including music, of course what really impressed me. And contemporary dance in fact - well the little bit that I saw on TV or that sort of thing - it seemed like a foreign language. That means that for me - we lived in France through a sort of filter, that there were things that we could join in with and others not. And dance was part of the latter group of activities. At least I imagined it to be one of those things with which we couldn't assimilate with," said Belaza.
    Some of the dance practitioners who attended the festival believe more can be done to encourage the development of the art form in North Africa where young choreographers often have little or no formal training.
    "These young people they don't have school; they do not have possibility, opportunity to have an education in dance. Like a long term or mid-term education in dance. There is initiatives from choreographer in Morocco and Tunisia for the Maghreb that they do offer - give them workshops," said Algerian Dance Curator, Nedjma Hadj Benchelabi who has been documenting young dancers performing either in private homes or at small venues in Marrakesh and other Moroccan cities.
    Over 60 events spread across London took place at this year's Shubbak festival. The wide-ranging 15-day programme included theatre, music, film, dance, visual arts, architecture, literature and debate.
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