Renowned French-Algerian hip-hop choreographer Mourad Merzouki and his Lyon-based Compagnie Käfig, named after the word “cage” in Arabic and German, merge elements of hip-hop with modern dance, circus, and digital arts in groundbreaking productions.

The company’s artistic aesthetic, which extends the territory of hip-hop without losing sight of its history, can hardly be locked into a single dance genre and style. Mourad Merzouki spoke with ICONS about his enduring artistic journey and latest creative curiosities.

DANCE ICONS: Tell us about how you got started in dance. What was your journey to become a choreographer?

MOURAD MERZOUKI: Before becoming a dancer, I was an acrobat. I went to circus school and also did martial arts and sports, which first gave me the desire to cross different aesthetics. Circus really brought me towards the will to create a dialogue between worlds that are far apart. I encountered hip-hop dance by watching a famous French TV show in the 80s called “A Chiper, à Choper.” I didn’t go to a conservatory; I didn’t know any more than what I saw on TV etc., and very early, I began to create small pieces of choreography that mixed hip-hop dance and circus arts.

When I pushed open the doors to a theater for the first time, I saw that dance could be a profession and that there were other dance techniques, such as contemporary dance. I realized that there is real work behind choreographic style and structure in relation to the music. All that inspired me, and very quickly, I tried to bring hip-hop dance towards this more structured approach than the typical hip-hop with freestyle, demonstration, and battle. I said to myself, “I think this dance can serve a choreographic intention in a theater setting.” It was a real challenge for me, and I really believed that hip hop could be a dance like any other and could be watched by any public and not just the youth in working-class neighborhoods.

ICONS:  Who are the choreographic idols or influences in your career?

MM: I wasn’t familiar with contemporary dance, so I didn’t have any choreographic references in the beginning. The reference I like to cite wasn’t a choreographer; he was everything at once—a singularity, Charlie Chaplin. He was a complete artist who was at the same time dancer, acrobat, musician, funny, everything. When I started to choreograph, I was impressed by the projects of Philippe Découfflé and his work with shapes and costumes. I also discovered works at the opera, such as Maguy Marin’s Cinderella; her way of creating dance spoke to me. I also appreciate the work of José Montalvo with Dominique Hervieu incorporating video and placing different physiques on stage: classical, contemporary, hip hop, plus the video. There was something innovative, generous, and fresh in this choreographic style that I loved, seeing dance in a raw state in a certain way.

ICONS: Could you give us insight into your choreographic process? How do you work with your artistic team?

MM: First of all, I start with a theme, what I want to talk about in a creation, and what I want to have on stage at the end. Then comes the artistic team. I say to myself, “To be able to create this piece, with whom do I want to surround myself? Which lighting designer, costume designer, musician, scenographer?” I assemble what I call the inner circle with whom I will share what I have in my head. Then there are the dancers. I have an audition to cast who will carry this creation on stage. The rehearsal period is usually 3-6 months in the studio.

My way of working is very collegial, meaning I don’t impose movements on the dancers. I start with the dancers I chose to construct the choreography. I often say that a successful performance is not the work of one man or one woman—it’s not one artist. For me, it’s an alchemy of everyone, from the music to the costumes to the dancers, etc. I try to find a way to keep the whole team close to me throughout the process.

ICONS: How do you integrate dancers of different disciplines into one choreographic creation? For example, in Pixel, how did the collaboration of hip-hop dance and digital technology come about?

MM: The goal of my work today is, first of all, to dare. I would like to dare such-and-such encounter. It’s scary when we dare because we don’t know, we doubt, we’re scared to make a mistake; that’s the starting point. Then, there is a phase when I have to pass through a sort of training because when we bring together different worlds, we have to train each other to find the right dialogue, and for Pixel, it was a bit like that. In order to bring the dancers to a digital scenography, we had to learn to tame the digital and video. This process was a bit long because we had to find the right code, reflexes, and rhythm as well, and this wasn't easy because I adventured towards an organic approach with something that was not body but technology.

ICONS: Your repertoire is vast and quite diverse. What would you say is consistent in your work, and what is variable across your work?

MM: What is always in my work, I think, is the place I give to the music, which is very important to me. I can’t conceive of a choreography without music—it's what can bring the poetry, the rhythm, and the image that I want to share with the audience. What is maybe different in my works is the connection that I will seek between hip-hop dance, at least the hip-hop gesture that I learned, and another universe. Each connection is hip-hop dance with either vertical dance, circus, objects, sports, baroque music, or classical music. In any case, I try to bring something different to my creations and with a new element, whether it be plastic, musical, or aesthetic.

I’m not a socially or politically committed choreographer at a place where I engage for one cause or another, because I don’t know how to be honest. Some people criticize me for that, but it’s not because I don’t want to; it’s that I don’t know how to. I’m more at ease with creations where in the end, I feature the beauty of the body, generosity of the body. I want the public to have a good time through the dynamic of the performance or the image that I want to share.

ICONS: You have several initiatives—festivals and choreographic competitions—that are designed for emerging choreographers. Tell us about the origin of these projects and if you feel a responsibility to help emerging choreographers.

MM: I have the impression that my responsibility as a choreographer, and director of a theater, is also to be a passer, to have a watchful eye with emergent young choreographers. I wanted to create festivals and a choreography competition to show the work of these artists, whether they be emerging or established companies that have difficulty getting their work seen.

I have a real desire, a need, to accompany and to be able to share new forms with the public. It’s a way of showing that dance is an art that is in good health despite its difficulties. To create a festival is to create various rendezvous for dance to reach a wider audience. I’m very attentive to that, particularly with hip-hop dance which is still fragile in a certain way. Hip-hop has something very different, and I try to be mindful because those who carry this dance don’t always have the codes or a formal relationship with an institution.

ICONS: What advice would you give to your younger self starting out in choreography?

MM: Openness, taking risks, daring to not stay within a comfort zone, but to be curious, to go towards the other—even if we aren’t from the same world, even if we don’t have the same sensibility. I really started learning from the moment I would go towards something I didn’t know. That was my motor, and I love doing that even if it’s always scary. That’s the advice I would have liked to have been told. Go out, see, try, go towards the other; that’s the best way to move forward, to renew yourself, to then understand the other as well, because it’s important to understand who you’re speaking with.

ICONS: What are your current and upcoming projects?

MM: Currently, I’m working on my departure from the Centre Choregraphique of Créteil to go to Lyon. I want to create a space in Lyon with the same missions as a Centre Choregraphique, to create, to welcome companies and artists, and to share, so it’s really a space in the image of my work. In parallel, I continue to direct the Festivals Karavel and Kalypso, and I’m also creating three new works to be premiered starting in autumn 2023. One with the musicians of the Gotan Project, another project is ballet and contemporary dance with a live orchestra, and a third project is one that I started a year ago that I haven’t yet presented to an audience in a theater format called “Catwalk.”

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MORE INFORMATION AND A BIOGRAPHY of Mourad Merzouki & Compagnie Käfig:

https://kafig.com/Mourad-Merzouki-1975921?lang=en

VIDEO SAMPLE:

Pixels (2014) choreography by Mourad Merzouki, Compagnie Käfig in performance

PHOTO CREDITS:

 Photo © Julie Cherki, Portrait of Mourad Merzouki

Photos © Michel Cavalca and Julie Cherki, Compagnie Käfig in performances  

CREATIVE TEAM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

Interviewer: Elizabeth Gahl

Executive Content Editor: Camilla Acquista

Executive Assistant: Charles Scheland

Executive Director: Vladimir Angelov

Dance ICONS, Inc., August 2023 © All rights reserved.