Introduced to Maghreb dances and Arab-Andalusian music from childhood, Filipe Lourenço approaches traditional dances as a heritage to be reinvented. In his new work, he returns to the ahidous, a collective dance of the Berber tribes of the Middle Atlas, accompanied by singing and percussion, and performed during festivals, weddings, or rituals. Drawing on this ancestral form, the choreographer transforms this tradition into a space for creation, emancipation, and collective listening, where each performer draws upon their personal memory to embody the dance, approaching tradition not as a static monument but as a living substance, permeated by tensions, impulses, and forms yet to be imagined.

A dancer, choreographer, and musician, Filipe Lourenço began his artistic journey with the El Qantara association, where he trained for 15 years in the traditional repertoire of the Maghreb before going on to teach it himself. Passionate about Arab-Andalusian music, he also studied the oud and performed for about ten years with the ensemble El Albaycin. In 1997, he joined the CNDC in Angers and began a career as a performer with choreographers such as Catherine Diverres, Oliver Dubois, Boris Charmatz, and Christian Rizzo. In 2014, he founded the Filipe Lourenço / Plan-K company.

Mithkal Alzghair invites you to explore the Ahidous dance, a traditional dance of the Berber tribes, by combining movement and musicality to capture its artistic essence. Participants will learn its specific movements and rhythms, then integrate these elements into Filipe Lourenço’s contemporary choreographic explorations. This dialogue between tradition and modernity opens up new creative horizons, blending rhythm, dance, and song to invent a new choreographic style.

The performance will be followed by a discussion with the artistic team.

A double bill presented by the Grenoble National Choreographic Center, inviting audiences on a journey through dance and music from the Middle Atlas Mountains to the Alps, as part of the Balcons du Dauphiné’s Shared Season.

The performance will be followed by a discussion with the artistic team.

As part of the Ministry of Culture’s “Danses en territoires” program, with support from the Isère Department and in partnership with:

The Grenoble National Choreographic Center is funded by the DRAC Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes / Ministry of Culture and Communication, the Department of Isère, and Grenoble-Alpes Métropole.