‘Watadour’ at Al Madina Theatre

Omar Rajeh and Maqamat Dance Theatre, in collaboration with Nasser Soumi, Sharif Sehanoui, and Mazen Kerbaj, presents: “Watadour” (It Turns), a dance performance with six artists and a moving circular stage.

“Watadour” plays around the idea of ‘the impossible’, the nearly unbelievable and absurd situations we encounter in our everyday life. Omar Rajeh collaborates with Nasser Soumi, Sharif Sehnaoui, Mazen Kerbaj, Bassam Bou Diab, and Mia Habis to confront the question of ‘adaptation and survival’, which seems to be continuously present in our physical and mental being. Everything moves, changes, and shifts around us, a turmoil of human, social, religious, and political conflicts. “Watadour” is about coping, adapting,acting, and surviving an insecure and continuously hostile environment.

It is a dual dance shared by two dancers and a moving circular stage with live music and live visual projections. The stage will gradually move from a horizontal position to a completely vertical one. The dancers will follow, adapting their bodies and their movements, and acting along the sloping position of the disc. They will be confronted immediately by the disruption of gravity and the idea of verticality Vs horizontality. The performance reflects our strong drive for ‘being’, which is a dual struggle between physicality and virtuality, and their ‘becomings’.

Concept/Choreography: Omar Rajeh
Original Idea/ Scenography: Nasser Soumi
Dance/ Creation: Mia Habis, Bassam Bou Diab
Composition/Live Music: Sharif Sehnaoui
Visual Creation (Live Setting): Mazen Kerbaj
Costumes: Mia Habis
Light Design: Jonathan Samuels
Production: Zaher Kais, Christel Salem
Set Construction: Abou Ajram Group Ajran

Produced by: Maqamat Dance Theatre
Funded by: The Norwegian Embassy in Beirut
Supported by: British Council,
With the Support of: Abou Ajram Group S.A.R.L., Omar Qassem Al Issa’i Group

Tickets sold at Librairie Antoine: Hamra 01.341.470/1, Achrafieh 01.218.175