The annual contemporary dance festival Nassim El-Raqs (The Dance Breeze) kicked off on May 5 and is currently underway in public urban spaces in Egypt’s coastal city of Alexandria. The festival, which will run until May 10, was an original idea by visual artist Emilie Petit, who hails from Marseilles. Designed and implemented by Centre Rézodanse Egypte and Agora for Arts and Culture, the festival – which will come to a close on May 10 – is currently produced by Marseilles-based Momkin, in cooperation with several local partners. With the aim of questioning the relationship between art and Mediterranean spaces, cultures and identities, Nassim El Raqs has been held every year since 2011. “Nassim el Raqs is an artistic and creative laboratory offering on-site art residencies in Alexandria, honoring dance, body expression and movement,” Petit tells Egyptian Streets. “Every year since 2011, during Sham El-Nessim spring holidays, Egyptian and foreign artists are invited to create performances or installations in unexpected and interesting places in the city, using the city itself as a material for inspiration and creation. Although it started with choreographic creation, the festival likes to cross different artistic approaches…
Nassim El Raqs: A Contemporary Dance Festival in the Streets of Alexandria
May 9, 2016
