The Tunisian performer and dancer Mohamed Toukabri has been working in the last ten years with artists such as Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Grace Ellen Barkey and Jan Lauwers. The Upside Down Man (The Son of the Road) is his first solo work. In this dance performance, Mohamed moves back and forth between the past and the present, between two countries, two cultures and two traditions, between artistic disciplines and the languages of dance. He uses his personal story as an aid to speak about the feeling of identity and perception in our society. Mohamed investigates the concept of “in-between space” and confronts his audience with this mysterious and philosophical zone, somewhere between a westernized Muslim background in Tunis and the citizen-of-the-world status that European contemporary dance offers him. The constant interplay between dance, video, text and sound result in a very personal dance piece.

“In The Upside Down Man, I chose an autobiographic approach because I am interested in what is uniquely personal, in the fact that no one else can tell my story, because no one else sees the world through my eyes. Precisely because of that uniqueness, every person has his place in the world. While we are often inclined to generalize, apply labels or accept ready-to-use packages, I want to show that I am not a single-story: I am many stories.”

– Mohamed Toukabri

Duration: 50 min.

A production of Mohamed Toukabri. In coproduction with HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts Dresden and with the support from Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie. Residencies in Festival Artdanthé (Paris Vanves), Vooruit (Ghent), KAAP (Ostend / Bruges) and HELLERAU (Dresden). Rehearsal spaces in De Kriekelaar and MILL (Brussels).