TURBA

1) Tell us a bit about yourself.

We, Romane and Mehdi, are two performers and choreographers based in France and Morocco.

Mehdi Dahkan: I began this journey by exploring hip-hop and other urban practices before transitioning to contemporary dance. As a performer, I worked with several dance companies and choreographers in Morocco and Europe. In 2019, I founded the company Jil Z and started developing my own work as a choreographer. My objective is to promote artistic culture and choreographic creation, primarily inspired by the social issues of Moroccan, Arab, and African youth. I question the body and its politics by integrating urban and contemporary practices, bringing the street to the stage, and the stage to the street.

Romane Piffaut: I am trained in contemporary dance at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Danse de Lyon. Alongside my career as a performer, I co-founded the QUAI6 company and the TURBA collective. Based between France and Morocco, I lead various creative and research projects aimed at fostering connections among artists. I combine different practices, including dance, textile design, painting, and photography. My research revolves around the influence of territories and primary and secondary social groups on the body and the individual.

2) Tell us a bit about your art practice and what inspires you.

For this residency, we, the two artists, come together for shared research in the context of the TURBA collective.

TURBA, derived from the Latin term meaning “disorderly crowd,” is an artistic research initiative that unites several artists and structures. Together, and in various forms, we explore the influence of the territory and its social codes on crowds and the mechanisms that constitute them. Much of our inspiration for this research comes from public space, including crowd behavior, architecture, materials present, and sounds. We place significant importance on observing the bodies and movements of everyday life.

3) What do you hope to achieve with your residency in Malta?

By undertaking this research project in Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, and Malta, we aim to establish connections between different crowds, artists, publics and structures.

We hope that through this residency, we can continue to enrich our understanding of the reactions of bodies, publics, and individuals in various territories and an opportunity for us and our work to build a more objective perspective.