Beytna (2016)   Omar Rajeh

Beytna is Lebanese for an invitation to someone’s home, to immerse yourself in the world of the other, the host, with food in a prominent role. This also applies to the piece by Lebanese-born choreographer and dancer Omar Rajeh, who was part of last year’s festival with his solo Dance is not for us. On stage, a cook – Rajeh’s mother – is in charge of a monumental table on wheels. The only woman present, she acts as an omnipresent, calming factor in the turbulent events that gradually unfold.

Four solo dancers from very different cultural backgrounds embarked with open minds on an exploration of their respective traditions and personal experiences. The result is a multi-layered piece of dance theatre which, though emotions occasionally boil over, demonstrates that the uniting factors clearly predominate. The others dancers and performers in addition to the Lebanese Omar Rajeh, who developed the concept for Beytna, are the West African Anani Dodji Sanouvi, the Belgian Koen Augustijnen and the Korean Moonsuk Choi. The piece also features live music with four musicians from Lebanon and Palestine. Beytna is an invitation to a feast for all the senses, with a wonderful combination of dance, text, film, music and culinary art.

Concept & Choreography: Omar Rajeh
In collaboration with: Koen Augustijnen, Anani Sanouvi and Hiroaki Umeda
Composition: Ziad Ahmadie, Youssef Hbeisch, Samir Nasr Eddine
With: Omar Rajeh, Koen Augustijnen, Ziad Ahmadie, May Bou Matar, Jihun Choi, Youssef Hbeisch, Samir Nasr Eddine, Afif Merhej, Imad Balani, Anani Sanouvi
Percussion: Youssef Hbeisch, Joss Turnbul
Voice: Nohad Rajeh
Scene: Omar Rajeh
Costumes: Mia Habis
Technical direction: Christian Francois
Music: Engineer Jean-Christophe Batut, Philippe Balzé
Lighting: Victor Duran Manzano, Christian François
Graphics & Video Animation: Joe Elias/Nimslabs
Administrator: Ilitza Georgieva
Coordination & Diffusion: Amina Onsy

Production: Cie Omar Rajeh & Maqamat
Co-production: BIPOD-Beirut International Platform of Dance, Tanzquartier Wien, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, CCN de La Rochelle / Cie Accrorap-Direction Kader Attou, Theater im Pfalzbau-Ludwigshafen, and Fondazione Fabbrica Europa.