Black Hole
Residencies
- 23.09 > 27.09.2024
- 08.07 > 13.07.2024
- 29.04 > 04.05.2024
- 08.02 > 17.02.2024
Black Hole is a music and dance performance by DJ and sound artist Sara Dziri, who, together with dancer-choreographer Yasmina Tayoub, explores the intersections of rave culture and North-African trance traditions. Drawing from Sara’s research on trance practices in Egypt and Tunisia, the performance invites the audience into an imaginary rave space between dark escapism and otherworldly bliss.
During a work visit to Cairo (EG), Sara got 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 women who, through singing, dancing, and music, search for the origin of someone’s struggle. Under the guidance of repetitive music, they seek healing together. She later went on a second work visit, this time in Tunis (TU), to learn more about other local trance practices, such as stambeli and isawaya.
“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 ressemblances with rave culture: community, healing, and connection through dance and music, far from the eyes of societal and political condemnation. With Black Hole she wants to highlight rave culture and trance traditions as spaces of resistance and connection.
Concept & direction Sara Dziri I Performance Sara Dziri & Yasmina Tayoub I Choreography Yasmina Tayoub I Music Sara Dziri I Light design & scenography Arnaud De Wolf I Costumes Kenza Taleb I Dramaturgy & choreography assistance Mohamed Toukabri I Sound Engineer Elsa Grelot I Production Kunstenwerkplaats I Coproduction deSingel, Kanal — Centre Pompidou, Beursschouwburg, C‑Takt, Dream City/l’Art Rue I Thanks to KAAP, de Brakke Grond, Goethe Institut Cairo I With the support of Vlaamse overheid & Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie I Special thanks to Nedjma Hadj Benchalabi, Shaymaa Shoukry & Senda Jebali.
Image by Louis Kerckhof.