Residencies

• 23.09 > 27.09.2024
• 08.07 > 13.07.2024
• 29.04 > 04.05.2024
• 08.02 > 17.02.2024

With Black Hole, nightli­fe artist Sara Dziri, together with dan­cer-cho­re­o­grap­her Yasmina Tayoub, brid­ges the gap bet­ween rave cul­tu­re and the dan­ce world, bet­ween modern elec­tro­nic music and North African tran­ce tra­di­ti­on, bet­ween ravers and the rest of the world. They look at the phe­no­me­non of tran­ce and rave from their own cul­tu­ral heri­ta­ge. The cen­tral ques­ti­on: how can the rave beco­me a sur­vi­val method for peo­p­le who are tired of living in a soci­e­ty whe­re they are not accep­ted for who they are?

During a work visit to Cairo (EG), Sara was inspi­red by the zār, an ancient hea­ling tran­ce tra­di­ti­on cen­te­red around women who do not fit into the con­ven­ti­o­nal mold and find com­mu­ni­ty with each other. A zār is led by a woman who, through sin­ging, dan­cing, and music, sear­ches for the ori­gin of some­o­ne’s strug­gle. Under the guid­an­ce of repe­ti­ti­ve music, they seek hea­ling together.

“Zar cults buf­fer the indi­vi­du­al cau­ght in dif­fi­cult struc­tu­ral con­di­ti­ons by cre­a­ting a com­mu­ni­ty with a sha­red expe­rien­ce of other­hood, par­ti­cu­lar­ly for the most vul­ne­ra­ble iden­ti­ties, tho­se rela­ted to gen­der and sexu­a­li­ty. Members of a zar com­mu­ni­ty buf­fer each other’s pains and mis­for­tu­nes through friends­hips, mutu­al sym­pa­thy, com­mu­nal dan­ce, enter­tain­ment, and con­ver­sa­ti­ons out­si­de the imme­di­a­te kin group.” – Hager El Hadid in Zar — Spirit, Possession, Music, and Healing Rituals in Egypt

Sara saw strong simi­la­ri­ties with the under­ground rave cul­tu­re that emer­ged in New York City in the 1980s as a result of the Stonewall riots. Community, hea­ling, and con­nec­ti­on through dan­ce and music, far from the eyes of socie­tal and poli­ti­cal con­dem­na­ti­on. She quick­ly rea­li­zed that her idea for Black Hole nee­ded more than just the medi­um of music.