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Smell of Cement

Eman Hussein (Egypt)

Tue 19 Sept 2023 | 8:30 pm – 9 pm
National Center For Culture & Arts (NCCA)

Eman Hussein (Egypt)

National Center For Culture & Arts (NCCA)

Performance 

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Smell of Cement

Body memory and work memory related to space: Working with the body goes beyond the idea of pain and sweat of the physical work itself.

There are some precarious aspects that dancers have in common with construction workers.

“We too test out physical pain – we too work with repetition of movement. Another crucial moment we share is, of course, the constant movement of bodies in space.” – Eman Hussein

Details

Tue 19 Sept 2023 | 8:30 pm – 9 pm

Venue

National Center For Culture & Arts (NCCA)

Entry is completely free! 

It’s first come, first serve and we are expecting to fill out fast so get down early!

If you have any questions, Direct Message (DM) us on instagram!

Concept, choreographer & director: Eman Hussein

Sound design: Youssra El Hawary

Mentor & dramaturge: Nedjma Hadj Benchelabi

Photography: Arthur Tainturier

Stories of the maker

Eman Hussein is an Egyptian artist, born 1994. She studied dance, street art, theatre and martial arts. Her works merge labourers’ daily movements and contemporary dance, amongst other arts. Working with individuals outside of art institutions is her main inspiration. 

“The construction workers are not insured for their bodies at work.

Also, they suffer from being away from their families.

This affects their bodies.

Besides the overheating of the sun or the cold of the mornings, the missing of the family brings another challenging aspect on an emotional level that impacts the quality of movement.

There are some precarious aspects dancers share with construction workers:

We also test physical pain – we also work with the repetition of movement – we also often don’t have insurance because of another fact we share with the construction workers: salaries are neither high nor stable – and another crucial moment we share is the constant body movement in space.” – Eman Hussein

This performance was made possible at IDEA festival with the support of: 

This performance is part of the Halaqat residencies, organized by the Goethe-Institut Brüssel, Bozar-Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and the curator and dramaturge Nedjma Hadj Benchelabi, in collaboration with the Théâtre Marni and La Bellone and in partnership with Studio 8 in Jordan.

Eman Hussein

Eman Hussein, is a dancer, choreographer and dance filmmaker based in Cairo and Zurich.

She collaborates with craftsmen and workers and live with them to learn their movements inside their workshops.

Her dance films combine aspects of public space and contemporary dance movement. They have been shown and awarded internationally.

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