Radouan Mriziga

What do we retain of history? Why are some stories rewritten or simply forgotten?

Tafukt is a dance solo created by the choreographer and dancer Radouan Mriziga, born in Marrakesh and based in Brussels. This piece is the first in a trilogy focusing on the semantics and mythologies of the Imazighen, the indigenous people of North Africa. Each piece is devised for a woman dancer and centres on a female figure, guardians of Amazigh knowledge.

The goddess Athena, a link between the cultures and histories on either side of the Mediterranean, lies at the heart of Tafukt. Athena's birthplace is Lake Tritonis, located in what is now Libya, but this connection is largely ignored. History books in North Africa focus on the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the Arabs. The Imazighen are almost absent, despite the fundamental role they play in the region’s culture. Can performance be a tool to rethink these models and imagine a more inclusive future?

Concept & choreography Radouan Mriziga Scenography Radouan Mriziga & Estelle Gautier Dance & performance Maïté Jeannolin Artistic assistant Sondos Belhassen Costume design Lila John Poems and songs Nisrine Mbarki, Dorothée Munyaneza, Hindi Zahra & Popytirz Music El Hit by Dj VAN, Pain by Krtas Nssa & Awache N-haha Light design Estelle Gautier Dramaturgical support and text editing Esther Severi Research support Hajar Ibnouthen & Esther Severi Portuguese translation Patrícia Pimentel Text references Manifesto for Good Living/Buen Viver by Boaventura de Sousa Santos Production A7LA5 Tour management, promotion & distribution Something Great Co-production Kaaitheater, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Moussem Nomadisch Kunstencentrum, PACT Zollverein, Alkantara, deSingel & Parallèle / L’Officina and Kanuti Gildi SAAL/ SAAL Biennaal festival within the frame of MORE THAN THIS – Creative Europe With the support of De Vlaamse Overheid Thanks to Kunstencentrum BUDA

Radouan Mriziga (1985) is a Brussels-based choreographer and dancer from Marrakesh. After studying dance in Morocco, Tunisia and France, Radouan Mriziga graduated from P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels. Fairly quickly he began to focus on creating and touring own work around the world. In pieces like 55 (Alkantara Festival 2016) and 7 (Alkantara Festival 2018), he explores the relationship between movement, construction and composition. Focusing on human beings as the makers of their surroundings, Mriziga’s choreographies forge links between the body in motion and the expression of form in everyday materials and the architecture of our built environment. Mriziga is an artist-in-residence at Kaaitheater in Brussels (2017-2021).