B e y t n a — Omar Rajeh

Beytna

premiere, 6 April 2016, Tanzquartier Wien

Four choreographers and four musicians coming from Lebanon, Japan, Palestine, Belgium, and Togo are meeting onstage over a banquet of food. They are coming from different continents, cultures, and countries. They have different artistic experiences, with different backgrounds and ideas. What connects them is their profession. They talk, drink, laugh, dance, and eat together.

The simplicity of this meeting would be a starting point to a more complex choreographic and conceptual performance structure. 'Beytna' is a simple invitation to the home of the other; health, happiness, pleasure, compassion, and friendship. It is an invitation to the artist's profession and choreographic construction as much as it is to the forms and situations of the past.

Duration

80’

Concept and choreography Omar Rajeh Choreographed by: Koen Augustijnen, Omar Rajeh, Anani Sanouvi, and Seungju Lee Music Composition Ziad Ahmadie, Youssef Hbeisch, Samir Nasr Eddine Performed by Koen Augustijnen, Ziad Ahmadie, May Bou Matar, Jihun Choi , Youssef Hbeisch, Samir Nasr Eddine, Omar Rajeh, Afif Merhej, Imad Balani, Anani Sanouvi Percussion Youssef Hbeisch, Joss Turnbul Voice Nohad Rajeh Scenography Omar Rajeh costumes Mia Habis Technical Director Christian Francois Sound Engineer Jean-Christophe Batut, Philippe Balzé Lighting design Victor Duran Manzano, Christian François Graphic design & video animation Joe Elias/Nimslabs Administrateur Jean-Louis Pagnon

Photos by D.Matvejev | Jean Philipse | Pavlos_Vrio_RialtoFestival | Paul Bourdrel _ Les Nuits de Fourvière

A production of Omar Rajeh | Maqamat Co-produced by BIPOD-Beirut International Platform of Dance, Tanzquartier Wien, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, CCN de La Rochelle / Cie Accrorap-Direction Kader Attou, Theater im Pfalzbau-Ludwigshafen, and Fondazione Fabbrica Europa.

Beytna was first created with Le Trio Joubran

“With good friends … and good food on the board … we may well ask, when shall we live if not now?”

- M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

an interview with Omar Rajeh & Anani Sanouvi at Les Nuits de Fourvière 2023 and a short video teaser on the right

More than a show, an experience that breaks down the boundaries between art and life.

- Verenanda Paladino ( DNA- Dernières nouvelles d'Alsace)
“Les spectateurs font partie intégrante de la pièce succulente, dont la diversité n’a d’égal que la générosité”

Les Nuits de Fourvière , 2023
“Il faut parfois savoir mettre les petits plats dans les grands. A cet égard, le chorégraphe libanais Omar Rajeh en a mis plein la vue au public luxembourgeois qui avait répondu à son invitation.”

Marie-Laurie Rolland, LUXEMBOURGER WORT, 2017
“…le chorégraphe libanais, figure de la scène contemporaine depuis le début des années 2000, met les petits plats dans les grands et les pieds dedans pour faire exploser les bouchons de la bonne humeur et du savoir bien vivre que la danse véhicule."

Rosita Boisseau, LE MONDE, 2016
“…une ode au partage et à la tolérance autour de la danse, de la musique et de la gastronomie.”

Actuvernier, 2018
“More than a show, Beytna offers an experience. One of those blurred moments where art and life merge, where artists and spectators mingle.”

La Gruyere, 2018
“La grande qualité de Beytna …, est de ne pas forcer les métaphores autant que nous. Car les correspondances entre cuisine, multiculturalisme et diasporas sont suffisamment puissantes pour s’imposer d’elles-mêmes sur le plateau.”

Ève Beauvallet, LIBÉRATION, 2016