Take Off Festival 2025 Programme 2

Take Off Festival features two international choreographers' works, chosen from the Aerowaves Twenty24 selected artists presented on shared programmes. Programme 2 features works by Amir Sabra and Habib Ben Tanfous.

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Programme 2 | Friday 21 February | 7:30pm | Duration: 1hr

BRIDGING
Amir Sabra (Ireland/Palestine)
The name Bridging is inspired by the place it was created for, the Living Bridge, located at the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance in Limerick. In collaboration with the MA Contemporary Dance Performance students at the Academy, choreographer Amir Sabra with composer Rossa Ó Snodaigh and fellow members of the award-winning Irish band Kíla, invite the audience to experience an intercultural dialogue in a charged and contested movement space. From the dancers’ first step into the space, until their dramatic final movement on the ground, Amir's choreography reflects influences from his background in Dabke & Hip-Hop, supported by Irish traditional music with an Arabic music flavour.

• Choreography Amir Sabra
  Composer Rossa Ó Snodaigh
  Musicians Brian Hogan, Rónán Ó Snodaigh
  Bridging was originally commissioned by Luail – Ireland’s National Dance Company, to mark their foundational partnership with the Irish World Academy of Music at Dance at University Limerick in 2024. Luail is funded by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.

ICI JE LÈGUE CE QUI NE M'APPARTIENT PAS/HERE I BEQUEATH WHAT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME
Habib Ben Tanfous/Compagnie Finek (Brussels/Tunisia)
Drawing on family archives and personal anecdotes, Brussels based choreographer Habib Ben Tanfous makes his body the epicentre of an intimate, funny, and sensitive investigation into the ambivalence of inheritance. What to do with what is left to us but does not belong to us? What do we pass on to others? Surrounded by the music and voices that populate his past and present, Habib Ben Tanfous creates a striking solo about the tug-of-war, grief and joys that accompany the development of a life one’s own.

• Conception, choreography, performance Habib Ben Tanfous
  Sound design Théo Rota
  Costume design Amandine Laval
  Scenography, lighting design Aurore Leduc
  Artistic collaborator Eliza Firouzfar
  Dramaturgy Adeline Rosenstein
  Dramaturgy collaborators Arnaud Timmermans, Thomas Schaupp
  Choreographic observer Mercedes Dassy
  Production and distribution ama brussels - Babacar Ba, France Morin, Clara Schmitt, Emi Parot
  
  A Show By The Finek Company Supported By The Ravie Collective Delegated Production: Atelier 210, Ama Brussels
• Co-production: Atelier 210, Charleroi Danse, Les Subs – Living Place For Artistic Experiences/lyon, Théâtre Varia, Ravie Collective
• Support And Residencies: Charleroi Danse, Kunstencentrum Buda,bamp, Iles/artist Project, Les Subs – Subs – Living Place For Artistic Experiences/lyon, La Bellone - House Of Performing Arts, Csc Centro Per La Scena Contemporanea, Bora Bora In The Framework Of The Dance & Dramaturgy European Network (D&d Eu)
• With The Support Of: The Wallonia-brussels Federation – Service Général De La Création Artistique, Taxshelter.be, Ing And The Tax-shelter Of The Belgian Federal Government, Wallonie-bruxelles International, Wallonie-bruxelles Theatre/dansee

About the Artists

Amir Sabra is a dance maker currently based in Ireland. He is co-founder of the Palestinian dance company Stereo48. Amir started as a breakdancer and has been a member of several dance companies including Les Ballets C de la B (Belgium), Pockemon Crew (France) and Catherine Young Dance (Ireland). In 2025 he will develop a new work, the Palestinian dance piece Badke, a co-production between La Geste (Belgium) and Stereo48 (Palestine).

Habib Ben Tanfous is a Belgian-French-Tunisian artist, born and based in Brussels, where he started training in hip hop dance at the age of 15. At the age of 22, he entered the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in the dramatic interpretation section and graduated in 2018 with great distinction and the Jury Prize. He is a member of the RAVIE collective and is one of the artists of the Tremplin Hip Hop #3. In 2019, he starts his higher certificate in Dance and Choreographic Practices at Charleroi danse in partnership with INSAS and ENSAV La Cambre. He performed under the direction of Manoël Dupont, Harpo Guit, Hélène Theunissen, Diane Fourdrignier, Adeline Rosenstein, Armel Roussel, Pauline d'Ollone and Olivia Grandville. He created the solo Ici je lègue ce qui ne m'appartient pas, co-produced by Atelier 210, Théâtre Varia, Charleroi danse, Les SUBS and FINEK, in 2023 season. The solo is part of the selection AEROWAVES Spring Forward Twenty24.