Cheikhats, ritueel voorbij het binaire denken
A liberating and loving fusion
The men of Kabareh Cheikhats pay tribute to the Cheikhats, Moroccan women who denounced prejudice and inequality with provocative songs and sensual presentation. With percussion, traditional chants and trance rituals, a clean sweep is made of patriarchal society.
Julidans
EXTENDED / Julidans NL
Run time 90 minutes
Location Meervaart
Venue Blauwe Zaal
It is a dizzying leap beyond binary thinking: a spectacle in which Moroccan men free themselves from prescribed patterns and go in search of their 'feminine' side, to celebrate the Cheikhats with an exuberant performance. The Cheikhats (pronounced sayg-hats) were free-spirited women, provocateurs of patriarchal society, champions of love and freedom who, until they were knocked off their pedestal in the 1990s, held an important place in their country's musical and cultural traditions.
Last summer Myriam Sahraoui, theatre maker and member of Female Economy, invited the company to create a performance together. It became an exciting fusion of the Cheikhats, the divas with their transgressive performances and sensual music, and the loving approach of Female Economy, which makes theatre focused on the encounter between people.
-|-They are artistic soulmates, exploring and denouncing notions of femininity and masculinity. There is room for stories from here and now, for example about 'the many lives' of a transgender Muslim woman. Sahraoui talks about her grief when her father died in Morocco and she could not say goodbye to him because women are not welcome at certain funeral rites.
Cheikhats, a ritual beyond binary thinking is an intense experience, a musical theatre performance full of exuberant singing and percussion about love, death and stereotypes about gender, ending with hypnotic dance.
CREDITS
concept + research Myriam Sahraoui
direction Ola Mafaalani + Adelheid Roosen
design Adelheid Roosen
dramaturgy Lauren Rissik
direction-assistance Anne Heintz
cast Ghassan el Hakim, Amine Naouni, Walid Rakik, Ali Rehmi-Lamaadi, Ahmed Rifki, Myriam Sahraoui, Adelheid Roosen, Dinah Bons, Elly Ludenhoff, Leendert Vooijce
light design Jantje Geldhof
-|-
production Marieke van Dam
technics Esther Bernart
emotional body work Jale Simsek
marketing lead Letice Braun
press lead Dayenne Mulder
business development Bregtje Bos
photography + trailer Prins de Vos