The pre-premiere of #minaret by the star of the Arab Region Omar Rajeh will open the 11th edition of the ONE DANCE WEEK festival. The piece will take place on September 21 at 19:30 in the Boris Hristov House of Culture in Plovdiv. Drawing on the destruction of the Great Mosque of Aleppo, #minaret is a performance that questions how we position ourselves in the face of such atrocities, an act of resistance against the demolition of one of the greatest and oldest cities in the world.
This is the newest fierce and powerful piece in the portfolio of Omar Rajeh. #minaret is a performance with a rebellious spirit against the destroying of ancient cities and human lives, of historical achievements and cultures. Can we stop the war? Can we act, resist ‘numbing’, or have we become accustomed to the everyday dark news reports from this troubled region?
Today Aleppo is what Beirut, Jerusalem, Grozny or Berlin were yesterday. Everything is shifting, turning around us – and is remembered as the winning oppressors’ want. A ‘big bazar’ of lost human values and brainwashed minds. We witness a sickening applause to extremism, conservatism, and fanaticism. Omar Rajeh is trying not to inculcate his ideas but to make the audience recall the value called responsibility. He provokes resistance against the war “normality” and the abstraction of the violence for the ones watching both far away and nearby.
The Bulgarian audiences will have the opportunity to attend the pre-premiere of #minaret. The presentation will happen just a week before its official premiere at the prestigious festival Romaeuropa in Rome.
Tickets for #minaret (pre-premiere) are available online at ЕpayGo.bg, as well as at the offices of EasyPay.
Omar Rajeh
Omar Rajeh is a choreographer, dancer and artistic director of Omar Rajeh | Maqamat. He established his company in Beirut in 2002 after studying dance in Lebanon and in England. He has created 15 powerful performances and has toured throughout the Arab World and Europe, in addition to Canada and Korea. His shows have been presented at prestigious festivals like Les Théâtres de la Ville in Luxemburg, SZIGET in Budapest, SIDANCE in Seul, and etc.
Omar Rajeh is one of the most fierce and strong voices at the contemporary scene. He is a choreographer of great importance for the Arab world and also a creator of pieces and co-productions with prestigious European theatres and festivals. Rajeh is also the founder of BIPOD – Beirut International Platform of Dance, which presents works of local and international dance companies. His latest achievement is Takween | Beirut Contemporary Dance School.
Omar Rajeh | Maqamat
Omar Rajeh | Maqamat aims at establishing a platform for innovation, experimentation, and continuous development of the contemporary dance culture in Lebanon and the Arab Region. By introducing new ideas and concepts of dance and ‘the body’, the company anticipates a new phase of artistic and social productivity, creativity, modernization, and free expression. Today Omar Rajeh | Maqamat is a central organization in the creation and development of contemporary dance in Lebanon. Furthermore, it is one of the main pillars of the whole Arab region and the Middle East.
ONE DANCE WEEK is organized by ONE Foundation for Culture and Arts and is a part of the program of Plovdiv – European Capital of Culture 2019. The event is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria.