Contributors

A major figure on the hip-hop scene since the early 1990s, choreographer Mourad Merzouki works at the crossroads of many different disciplines: he adds circus, martial arts, fine arts, video and live music to his exploration of hip-hop dance. Without losing sight of the roots of hip-hop movement - of its social and geographical origins - this multidisciplinary approach opens new horizons and reveals original outlooks.
 
Beginning at the age of 7, Merzouki trained in the circus school of Saint-Priest, in Lyon’s eastern suburbs, while also practicing martial arts. At age 15, inspired by hip-hop culture, he gravitated towards dance. From there, Merzouki began working on his own choreography; he soon created his first dance company, Accrorap, in 1989, with Kader Attou, Eric Mezino and Chaouki Saïd. With this group, Merzouki continued to develop his unique brand of hip-hop movement while simultaneously exploring other dance genres with contemporaries Maryse Delente, Jean-François Duroure and Josef Nadj.
 
Accrorap performed Athina during the Biennale de la Danse in Lyon in 1994 and earned acclaim for bringing hip-hop from the street to the stage, enabling the troupe to perform internationally. It was during a performance at a refugee camp in Croatia that Merzouki saw the power of dance to communicate and express emotion.
 
In 1996 Merzouki decided to establish his own company. Naming it after his inaugural piece, Käfig (which means “cage” in Arabic and German), he set a symbolic tone that paradoxically represents his “openness” and refusal to become locked into a single style.
 
From 1996 to 2006, Merzouki created 14 pieces that explored the world of dance through a multitude of styles.
 
Starting from January 2006, he designed a new creation and choreographic development centre dedicated to hip-hop dance, where he also implemented the Karavel Festival : Pôle Pik, in Bron, opened its doors in 2009.
 
Since June 2009, Merzouki is director of the Centre chorégraphique national de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne, where he develops an artistic project that uses “dance as a window on the world”: while creating and performing new works, Merzouki also provides support for independent groups and emerging companies, as well as training and awareness of hip-hop dance, by creating original encounters that promote access to choreographic art. In 2013, he created the Kalypso Festival, offering a new level of exposure to hip-hop dance companies in the Paris region.
 
In March 2016, Merzouki was appointed artistic advisor for Pôle en Scènes in Bron, where he brought together Pôle Pik, Espace Albert Camus and the Fort, in support of the common goal of training, creating and promoting the performing arts. He has stayed true to his artistic beliefs by creating bridges between disciplines, opening diverse spaces to an ever-wider audience.
 
Mourad Merzouki is member of the support committee to choreographic art of the French Ministry of Culture (DRAC Île-de-France) and the sponsorship committee for dance of Caisse des Dépôts.
 
He appears in the famous “Who’s Who book” and was recently included in the dictionary “Petit Larousse Illustré 2019”.