OMAR RAJEH | MAQAMAT
choreographer, dancer, and artistic director
NEWS
DANCE PEOPLE in residency at Montpellier Danse
Omar Rajeh is invited to a residency at the Agora / Montpellier Danse from 9 to 14 October for the first creative phase of DANCE PEOPLE, a new creation for 2025 produced by Maqamat.
DANCE PEOPLE is a durational collective concept initiated, curated and directed by Omar Rajeh and Mia Habis with a group of choreographers, dancers, musicians, poets, writers, and researchers.
The project highlights the values of a community at the heart of creativity, while claiming its strength through sharing the space with citizens and allowing new formats of ‘being together’ to emerge. This project is an attempt to shift the boundaries of a performance and/or a festival in order to extend the meeting between artists and citizens into an unconventional experience.
An Open Studio in presence of the artist will take place at the Agora on the 12th of October at 6 pm to talk about the project and its objectives.
The residencies at the Agora are supported by the Fondation BNP Paribas.
The company is still in the process of looking for co-producers and residencies for this creation. For more information, please contact info@maqamat.org
© sylvainclevyprodution
“[Omar Rajeh] makes contemporary dance a proposal of force in present day Lebanon” - Thomas Hahn, DANSER, 2018
Omar Rajeh, a critically acclaimed choreographer and dancer, is a leading figure of the contemporary dance scene in Lebanon and the Arab world. He founded Maqamat in Beirut in 2002. In December 2019, he moved to France and established his company in the city of Lyon. In 2021, he was distinguished by the French Ministry of Culture ‘for his contribution and engagement in the service of Culture’ with the title of ‘Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters).
He holds a BA in Theatre Studies from the Lebanese University and a Masters Degree in Dance Studies from the University of Surrey in the UK. Author of more than twenty choreographic creations, his choreogrpaphies question the notion of the unity and singularity of the body. Instead of looking at one entity with one centre, the body represents an interactive relationship of ‘bodies’ that give it its dynamics, presence, and meaning. His work seeks an extraordinary physical presence with strong socio-political connections. Rajeh’s work leaves a powerful imprint on the audience.
Omar Rajeh has spent over 20 years weaving, exploring and refining his choreographic language. He performed with his company in more than a hundred different cities around the globe. His work was presented in major international festivals and venues such as the Bolshoi theatre festival, STEPS, Julidans, Romaeuropa festival, Edinburgh International Festival, and Athens festival to name a few.
Omar Rajeh is the founder of Beirut International Platform of Dance – BIPOD, one of the most important dance festivals in the region. Since 2004, the festival offers a rich international program of performances, workshops, lectures, and meetings. He is the co-founder of Masahat Dance Network which is a regional contemporary dance network across Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan. This ambitious regional connection was further extended into the MOULTAQA LEYMOUN platform, which Rajeh created to provide the space and opportunity for young and established Arab artists to showcase and develop their work. Furthermore, Omar Rajeh has recently founded the highly anticipated new performing arts space in the heart of Beirut - Citerne Beirut - which is set to nurture and further propel the existing projects of Maqamat towards an enriched experience, while reaching a wider audience than ever before. Citerne Beirut was forced to be dismantled in August 2019.
He is the founder of the digital cultural platform Citerne.live.
Acknowledgment 2023 | Maqamat is supported by the DGCA/ Ministère de la culture and La Ville De Lyon