Carte Blanche with Bouchra at Den Norske Opera & Ballett

“I have invited Bouchra to work with Carte Blanche because of her ability to explore her own history, and to make it available to us with genuine passion and engagement,” says Theatre Director Hooman Sharifi.

“Through the innovative use of dance, song and the possibilities of the stage, she recreates her streets, with their smells and doors, so that we recognise our streets, with their smells and doors, through her story.”

“This invitation takes me out of familiar territory, out of my usual state and habits. There is risk inherent in this invitation, which I do not see as an order. It is like being in the desert, and in the desert, there are no gestures. The first step into the desert – the process – kills all gestures. In the desert nothing is superfluous – only that which is necessary is present,” says Bouchra Ouizguen poetically as she describes her upcoming work for Carte Blanche.

Dancer and choreographer Bouchra Ouizguen (1980) is from Ouarzazate, the city situated by the great desert in Morocco. She now lives and works in Marrakesh, where since 1998 she has helped to develop the local dance community and created a number of experimental performances.

Bouchra’s interest in the society and visual and popular art of her homeland nourishes her works, which span a number of formats including audio, performance and video. She has received several awards for her choreography, and has produced performances for several well-known festivals including Montpellier Danse, the Marrakech Biennale and Festival d’Automne.