Fouad Boussouf

Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts

About the Show

Choreographer Fouad Boussouf blends hip-hop, contemporary dance, and new circus with traditional forms of his native Morocco. The esteemed creator presents the US premiere of Näss, which translates as “people” in Arabic, a work at the crossroads of frenetic modernity and ancestral rituals. Inspired by the mysticism of the Gnawa tradition and the regional dances of taskiwine and regadda, Boussouf questions his own roots while revealing a universal dimension where the power of community is championed above inevitable struggle and strife. “I composed Näss like a breath,” says Boussouf, “which reminds us how important it is to be firmly rooted in one’s land in order to feel its vibrations.”