Éric Lamoureux / Héla Fattoumi

The solo piece MANTA, by Héla Fattoumi and Éric Lamoureux, was invited to the WE DON’T CONTEMPORARY Festival on the recommendation of Aïcha M’Barek and Hafiz Dhaou (represented with their own pieces VU and SACRÉ PRINTEMPS!). Fattoumi and Lamoureux cover an internationally controversial, much talked about topic: the Islamic veil. They focus on one of the most radical implementations of this, in the form of niqabs, which cover the face almost entirely. For Tunisian Fattoumi and French-born Lamoureux, the veil signifies a curtailing of female freedom and the suppression of individuality – by religion and by men. The choreographers create a fine and pointed choreographic translation of the physical and psychological burden of this special piece of fabric – and include the struggle to recapture the body in hypnotising, intimate images. MANTA sounds out the boundaries that have artistic contact with religious symbols.