Posts Tagged ‘Omar Rajeh’

News from Lebanon

Omar Rajeh, who was part of IDFB 2010’s Outspoken Weekend, is still touring with The Assassination of Omar Rajeh. There are two performances at the Aarhus Festival in Denmark on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 August.  

The Assassination of Omar Rajeh, photo by Tim Cross for IDFB 2010

Rajeh is Beirut-based Maqamat Dance Theatre’s artistic director. He is working on a solo entitled Can You Hear Me?, which will be presented as a work in progress at Constane Cambiamento Festival in Florence, Italy next month.

Omar Rajeh in The Assassination of Omar Rajeh, photo by Tim Cross for IDFB 2010

Magamat Dance Theatre also is working with Sasha Waltz & Guests and Sareyyet Ramallah to create Takween-Beirut Contemporary Dance School 2011, which is an annual three-month intensive contemporary training programme aimed at young people who wish to take on dance and performance as their careers. Takween-BCDC is from Sunday 5 September – Sunday 5 December. Dansgroep Amsterdam and Mancopy Danskompagni are also collaborators on this project.

(With thanks to Dance-Tech for the video)

Outspoken Highlights

Curated by Eckhard Thiemann, IDFB 2010’s Outspoken Weekend saw an array of new performances, talks and workshops by Arab artists from Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Morocco.

The weekend kicked off with a diverse Triple Bill at The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome, featuring works from Ahmed Khemis, Salah El Brogy and Muhanad Rasheed (Iraqi Bodies). We managed to catch up with Ahmed and Salah to have a chat about their work and a bit about their dance history.

Next up, we welcomed The Assassination of Omar Rajeh, a piece covering the political killings of journalists in Lebanon. Dancer/choreographer Omar Rajeh of Maqamat Dance Theatre talks about his work in the video below:

A Double Bill at Ikon Eastside featured Meryem Jazouli’s Kelma (The Word), based on the life and poems of famous Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, followed by Iraqi Bodies’ Insomnia, created in Iraq in 2005.

Aataba (The Threshold) was performed at The Patrick Centre and below, Moroccan choreographer Taoufiq Izeddiou talks about this work.

Nacera Belaza’s Le Cri, a physical and emotional tour de force and combined Arabic chanting, Maria Callas vocals and disco beats, and Les Sentinelles , an exclusive preview prior to its premiere in Paris, brought the weekend to a thrilling close.

To see the photos, visit the IDFB Flickr Page or join us on Facebook.

Our IDFB Outspoken Weekend was supported by The British Council. It was also one of the outstanding projects granted the London 2012 Inspire mark, the badge of the London 2012 Inspire programme which recognises exceptional and innovative projects inspired by the 2012 Games. Find out more about the Inspire Mark here.

Outspoken Weekend

The Assassination of Omar Rajeh | International Dance Festival Birmingham

Outspoken is programme of new performance from Arab artists (most of which have never been seen in the UK before), curated by Eckhard Thiemann and taking place at The Patrick Centre and Ikons Eastside from Thursday 29 April to Sunday 2 May.

The descriptions for each of the performances are strewn with adjectives like emotional, daring, controversial, personal and dramatic, and the programme looks sure to deliver dance with a message. Here’s what to expect:

Thursday 29 April

  • Triple Bill featuring pieces by Muhanad Rasheed – Iraqi Bodies (Iraq), Ahmed Khemis (Algeria, Tunisia, France) and Salah El Brogy (Egypt)

Friday 30 April

Saturday 1 May

Sunday 2 May

Other activities as part of the programme include talks on Exile and Migration, dance in Lebanon and the challenges and opportunities for Arab dance artists, a workshop with Ahmed Khemis, Taoufiq Izeddiou and Meryem Jazouli in conversation and the film Dancing Under Crossfire.

Click the links above for further information and to buy tickets. A weekend pass which gives access to all of the events is available for just £30. Our Outspoken weekend is one of the outstanding projects granted the London 2012 Inspire mark, the badge of the London 2012 Inspire programme which recognises exceptional and innovative projects inspired by the 2012 Games. Find out more about the Inspire Mark here.