Zoukak Sidewalks 2018 - The Festival presents:
Et Pourtant Elle Tourne
Dance performance
By Taoufiq Izzediou and Sharif Sehnaoui
Friday 2 November 2018 at 9:00 pm at Zoukak Studio, Beirut
Tickets : 25 000 L.L.
Tickets are available through ihjoz.com and at the door
Free Entry for students (upon presenting their Student ID), unemployed citizens, migrant domestic workers and people working in the artistic field (artists, technicians, administrators...). Those benefiting from the free entry are asked to show at the venue 30 minutes before the start of the event.
Synopsis
This "compact" performance is a collaboration between Moroccan choreographer Taoufiq Izzediou and Lebanese musician Sharif Sehnaoui.
It was first commissioned by AFAC (Arab Fund for Arts and Culture) in November 2017 on the occasion of their 10th year anniversary. Since both artists are also festival directors in their own country, an important aspect of the piece revolves around the difficulties and obstacles artists and institutions face in the Arab world, but most importantly what keeps them going nevertheless.
The duo thus develops a unique piece where music and movement share equal status, reclaiming strong elements of popular culture: dabkeh rythms, maqam, traditional chants and rice.
Credits
Dance & voice: Taoufiq Izzediou
Electric & acoustic guitars: Sharif Sehnaoui
Artists' Biography
Taoufiq Izeddiou is a choreographer and dancer. He is a central figure of the dance scene in Morocco where he directs Anania Company and the contemporary dance festival "On Marche".
It is in Marrakech, his hometown, that Taoufiq Izeddiou discovered a passion for contemporary dance, following classes at the French Institute in the early 90's.
In parallel with his career as a dancer, notably at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Tours, Taoufiq Izeddiou made his first choreography in 2000. Following the success of the group play Fina Kenti, he and his partners founded the company Anania, the leading contemporary dance company in Morocco in 2002, and then the contemporary dance festival "On Marche" in 2005.
Taoufiq Izeddiou's choreographies were hosted in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and North America in the most prestigious events and venues of contemporary dance.
Sharif Sehnaoui is a free improvising guitarist. He plays both electric & acoustic guitars, with (or without) extended and prepared techniques, focusing on expanding the intrinsic possibilities of these instruments without the use of effects or electronics. He now resides in Beirut, his hometown, after more than a decade in Paris, where he started his career as an improviser in 1998, playing at Instants Chavirés as a member of several orchestras. He has since performed his music worldwide and played in many clubs & festivals.
In Lebanon, he actively contributed to the emergence of an unprecedented experimental music scene. Along with Mazen Kerbaj he created “Irtijal” (www.irtijal.org) in 2000, a yearly international festival that is the oldest improvised and new music festival in the Arab world.
He also runs two record labels: “Al Maslakh” (www.almaslakh.org) devoted to "publish the un-publishable" on the Lebanese musical scene. And “Annihaya” (www.annihaya.com), focusing on sampling, recycling and the displacement of various aspects of popular culture.
Zoukak Sidewalks – The Festival 2018 is supported by: Drosos Foundation, AFAC – Arab Fund for Art and Culture, the Sundance Institute, the Goethe Institute, the British Council, the French Institute – Paris, the French Institute – Lebanon, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Beirut Office, Salon Du Livre Francophone.
