Le sacre de Lila
Ismaël Mouaraki

Inspired by the Lila ceremonies, traditional mystical and musical celebrations of his native Morocco, Ismaël Mouaraki explores trance with a group of male dancers in his newest creation. Through them, the French-Moroccan-Canadian retraces his own journey before the eyes of the public. Meaning “night” in Arabic, a “Lila” is a set of nocturnal healing rituals that blends singing, dancing, and music, traditionally found in some North African countries. Mouaraki transposes the rites and codes of these dance rituals onto the stage, while infusing his signature contemporary street dance style to reveal the sensitivity and sensuality of the male body. Tinted with the tastes and colors of Morocco, the artists transform the performance into a celebration and exaltation of bodies that unfolds with an undeniable energy.

Ismaël Mouaraki:

Since 2003, Ismaël Mouaraki has continued his work within the company Destins Croisés, which he founded. His choreographic creation reflects his obsessions as the thread of a lifetime’s work: embodying the infinite facets of humanity. The artist creates in a thousand ways, but with the same obsession. Whether in Loops (2008), the duo Slam en/Corps (2009) in collaboration with slam poet Queen KA, his solo RefleXction (2010), or his group pieces Lien(s) (2016), oZe (2019) and Phenomena (2019), everything revolves around the notions of polarities, control, domination, and the perception of the individual within the group. In his latest creation, Le sacre de Lila (2022), he brings together 10 dancers from Quebec and Morocco on stage to celebrate the sacred rituals of his native country. An artist and entrepreneur of body and spirit, Ismaël Mouaraki surrounds himself with artistic collaborators whose talents and expertise inspire his passion and vision. It is through human contacts that he shapes and develops a unique signature, rooted in the openness of genres and the discovery of others. For him, dance is a vector of social phenomena and human condition: when Ismaël initiates a research process, it is to discover the imprints left by our cultural and social environment, which inevitably sculpt our bodies.

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