How do you make it ... Mohamed Toukabri
Mohamed Toukabri (born in Tunis) is a performer and dancer who has been collaborating for some time with artists such as Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Grace Ellen Barkey, and Jan Lauwers.
How do you make it?
“In this solo, I direct my choreographic gaze inward to explore what dance means to me - not only as an art form but also as a lived and embodied experience. I do not work according to a fixed method but connect with my intuition to feel what my work truly needs. I start with a conceptual framework that then translates into various artistic forms: from movement practice to text and sound to choreography."
"My inspiration comes from a research project I conducted in 2023. In it, I questioned 20 years of dance practice: from the beginning in Tunis, where I encountered contemporary dance through a French postcolonial lens, to moving to Brussels and being introduced to a more American history of postmodern dance at P.A.R.T.S."
"In my new work, I examine how dance history is archived, transmitted, and decolonized, and what responsibility we have in that process. I want to create space for decolonization and foster a dialogue between hip-hop and contemporary dance. In this way, we can transform and challenge inherited legacies and shape a more inclusive and sensitive language of dance.”
“In his new solo, Toukabri seeks the architecture of dance itself, incorporating all his worlds: from street to stage, from hip-hop to postmodernism, from personal to political.”
Why do you create it?
“My artistic work has always been strongly connected to my life as a citizen. Leaving my family and homeland to study dance in a new environment has fundamentally changed me. The challenges – including navigating visas, bureaucracy, and systemic racism in Europe – that came with this have influenced how I approach my body and dance."
"My work is a way to reclaim agency over my body within societies and political systems that seek to limit our freedom and self-expression. I wanted to make it clear that we must have a shared sense of responsibility for our past, specifically our colonial history and the violence embedded in it."
"The choices of the past shape the world we live in today. The past is the present, and therefore the dance of tomorrow is shaped by the decisions we make today."
"I hope to create space for the decolonization of dance knowledge, where different histories, bodies, and perspectives are regarded as equal, celebrated, and respected.”
With whom do you create it?
“I created this solo piece together with a collective of brilliant artists. I collaborated with Eva Blaute for the dramaturgy. The words and voice of Tunisian playwright Essia Jaïbi guide me through the piece as we explore notions of memory and transmission. The sound design is by Annalena Forgive, featuring beats from the Tunisian hip-hop collective Debo. Scenography and lighting by Stef Stessel, lighting technician Matthieu Vergez, and costumes by Magali Grégoire, with production support from Caravan Production.”
