Bouchra Ouizguen / Compagnie O
Ottof
Past dates
Moroccan choreographer, Bouchra Ouizguen was born in Morocco and worked there as a Oriental dance soloist. Later she studied dance in Marrakech and was taught by Bernado Montet and Mathilde Monnier. She danced in pieces by the likes of Boris Charmatz, Mathilde Monnier and Taoufiq Izeddiou. Together with Taoufiq Izeddiou and Saîd Aït El Moumen she founded Morocco’s first contemporary dance group, ANANIA in 2002 and eight years later followed it up with the company, O. The ensemble is made up of five Aïtas – night club singers, who are seen as prostitutes in Morocco and as such are equally glorified and spurned. They have already danced in the productions ‘Madame Plaza’ and ‘Ha!’, both of which toured internationally. As part of the WE DON’T CONTEMPORARY Festival, Bouchra Ouizguen presents the third part of her trilogy, which premiered at the Montpellier Danse Festival in June 2015. In this piece, the stage is declared as a combat zone for every day protests. The women use their powerful voices and sensual movements to oppose racism, machismo and recurring humiliations. They are ants (in Berber, ‘Ottof’) in the individual turmoil of society. They must keep on refuelling and use the stage to allow themselves to be heard. An evening of unusually powerful performance and movement.
October 1st to october 3rd, starting 7pm: Together with Kampnagel Tunisian dance theorist and dramaturg Mariem Guellouz has put together a lecture programme that reflects the theory behind the themes of the festival and asks fundamental questions about post-colonialism, critically scrutinises the term ‘contemporary’ and delivers the latest findings on Afro-futurism. more...
