18 & 19 May '07

IN THE TRAIL OF THE GHAWAZEE
by Compagnie Leila Haddad
(Tunisia/France & Egypt)

Renowned Tunisian-born ,Parisian-based choreographer and dancer, Leila Haddad, and her seven men gypsy music ensemble from the Upper Nile create a magical and hypnotic fusion of music and the revival of the ancient Arabic dance form of Raqs Sharki. Leila stages a dialogue between two of the important staging posts - the Ghawazee dances of Upper Egypt and those of the Kalbeliyas in Rajasthan. The virtuoso musicians accompanying her dance improvise through the performance, hovering on the brink of the ecstatic trance state known as tarab, which suddenly breaks through their playing when least expected. Leila Haddad’s pure, deeply learned solo performance follows the music’s twists and whims in a choreography that shifts like the spirit presiding over each evening’s performance.