© Camille Blake

Cie Jil Z – Mehdi Dahkan
KMs OF RESISTANCE

(Maroc – France/Chalon-sur-Saône)

After exploring stillness in SUBJECT TO, Mehdi Dahkan continues his investigation into silent forms of resistance, when the body becomes a tool of protest against censorship — and this time, breath carries revolt. At the heart of a reinvented halqa, two actors, grounded on the floor, breathe. Loudly. Together. Inhalation becomes rhythm, rhythm becomes pulse. Groans, strikes, friction, claps. Around an endless line drawn in the sand, the duo moves forward, exhausts itself, starts over. Fatigue becomes momentum, silence gains meaning. Between endurance and exhaustion, the emaciated bodies vibrate and radiate with raw power. Then, almost imperceptibly, the tension shifts: playfulness emerges, and the audience starts to breathe with them. A truly collective, physical, and sensory experience, like a score without slogans, turning air into a political act.

Trained in breakdance and parkour, and having experienced urban dance and Bollywood before contemporary dance, Mehdi Dahkan has never been one to stay in line. Constantly moving, this choreographer, dancer, and filmmaker born in Tangier in 1998 has turned his collective, Jil Z, into a space of confrontation designed to shift perspectives on today’s Maghreb. Rooted in reality, his plays challenge conventions and engage all beings (MA’KAN, ONLY 14).

Production : Cie Jil Z.
Coproductions : Forecast Platform, Ettijahat-Independent Culture, AFAC-Arab Fund for Arts & Culture, IN SITU Platform, Centre Chorégraphique National-Le Havre, Fonds Enowe-Artagon, Lieux Publics-CNAREP-Marseille. 
Soutiens : BASE Milano, Zona K Milano, Centre Chorégraphique Pôle Pik, Institut Français du Maroc-Site de Tanger.